Ukrainian court extends custody for former interior minister

KIEV, February 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Kiev's Pechersky Court has extended
the custody for former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko till
April 26.
On December 13, the ex-minister and his driver, Leonid Pristuplyuk,
were charged with large-scale embezzlement of state property, abuse of
office and use of forged documents.
In addition, one more criminal case of abuse of authority and office
was opened against Lutsenko.
Lutsenko was detained on December 26, 2010 by the Security Service
near his home. On December 27, 2010, the Pechersky Court ordered him into
custody.
Officers of the Ukrainian Security Service, in the presence of
representatives of the prosecutor's office, put him into a car and drove
away. Prior to that the prosecutor's office had slapped on the ex-minister
an accusation of committing crimes, connected with embezzling state
property on a large scale by abusing his office.