Irina Lutsenko, Igor Fomin and Sergey Lutsenko

Wife of former Interior Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko Irina and his brother Sergey Lutsenko, left, and lawyer Igor Fomin during judicial meeting in Kiev Court of Appeal, on Friday, February 25, 2011. Kiev Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of Pechersky District Court to extend the arrest of former Interior Minister of Ukraine and leader of the People's Self-Defense Party Yuriy Lutsenko. "The panel of judges sees no grounds for the cancellation of the court's decision. Thus, Pechersky court's ruling has been left unchanged, and the appeal of Lutsenko and his lawyer has been rejected," the panel of judges of the Court of Appeals issued this decision on Feb.25. Lutsenko has been held in Lukyanovka jail since December 26, 2010. He was charged under Part 5, Article 191 (the large-scale embezzlement of state property through the abuse of office, under a preliminary collusion by a group of individuals), Part 3, Article 365 (the abuse of office, which led to grave consequences), and Part 3, Article 364 (the abuse of power and office by a law enforcer, which caused damage to citizens' rights protected by the law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Photo by Aleksandr Kosarev / POOL / UNIAN