KIEV, August 17 - RAPSI. On Friday, the Kiev Pechorsky District Court found former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko guilty of professional negligence and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Police officers Vladimir Tarasenko and Oleg Pavlenov, and other suspects in the case, were fined 8,500 hryvnas ($1,050).

In February the court sentenced Lutsenko to four years in prison in another criminal case having found him guilty of embezzling state funds and abuse of power. The court of appeals left this first sentence intact.

This second criminal case against Lutsenko is based on accusations of illegal eavesdropping and spying on the driver of former First Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian Security Service, Vladimir Satsyuk. The matter is being considered as part of former President Viktor Yushchenko's poisoning case. The former minister claims he is innocent and says he is being prosecuted for political motives.

The state prosecutors office asked the court to sentence Lutsenko to 30 months behind bars.