MOSCOW, March 27 - RAPSI. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has refused to reopen proceedings into the previously dismissed lawsuit of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko against Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka.

The Russian Legal Information Agency has a copy of the decision.

The lawsuit was filed last December. Lutsenko is asking for the criminal prosecution against him in Ukraine to be recognized as illegal and politically motivated, and is seeking compensation for moral damage.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the lawsuit because the plaintiff failed to follow court orders and did not provide any credible explanation of his failure to comply with those orders.

In his lawsuit Lutsenko accused the defendants of violating his right to personal immunity by arresting him and keeping him in custody for a lengthy period without reasonable grounds. He also alleged that he was subject to inhuman treatment during his detainment.

Pshonka's first deputy Renat Kuzmin, investigator Serhiy Voichenko and state prosecutor Yevhen Zinchenko are also defendants in the case.

The former Ukrainian interior minister was arrested in late 2010. Lutsenko was accused of employing his personal driver at the ministry and providing him with an apartment and a pension. He is also accused of overspending on Police Day celebrations. Investigators estimate the damages inflicted by Lutsenko on the state at 1 million gryvnias ($125,000) during his time as minister.

The Kiev Pechora District Court sentenced Lutsenko on February 27 to four years in prison. Lutsenko called the sentence a political reprisal.