Kyiv Sviatoshyn District Court of Kyiv region has dismissed former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko's complaint against the closure of criminal proceedings against Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin, investigator of the Prosecutor General's Office Serhiy Voichenko, and judges of Kyiv Pechersky Court and Appeals Courts, who initiated Lutsenko's arrest.

The court announced a relevant ruling on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

The ruling read by Judge Vitaliy Nikushyn says that the European Court of Human Rights in its judgment on Lutsenko's detention placed the responsibility on the state of Ukraine, rather than specific individuals. The ruling also says that the closure of criminal proceedings against Kuzmin, investigators and judges, was lawful because the Criminal Procedure Code does not define the sufficiency of evidence to close criminal proceedings.

"The court has ruled to dismiss the complaints by Lutsenko and his defense lawyer [Ihor] Fomin against the investigator's decision to close the criminal proceedings," the ruling reads.

The ruling may be appealed within five days.

Lutsenko was detained on December 25, 2010. Kyiv Pechersky District Court found the ex-minister guilty of a number of counts of abuse of office and sentenced him to four years in prison on February 27, 2012.

On July 3, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling declaring that the arrest of Lutsenko was a violation of his human rights. Moreover, the court ordered the Ukrainian government to pay EUR 15,000 to the ex-minister as compensation for moral damages. The state paid the compensation.

On December 26, 2012, Lutsenko asked Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka to prosecute First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin and investigator Serhiy Voichenko for making a decision on his detention and arrest.

On April 5, the Verkhovna Rada's Commissioner for Human Rights, Valeria Lutkovska, asked Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to pardon Lutsenko because of his state of health and the fact that the ex-minister had served more than half of his prison term. On April 7, Yanukovych signed a decree pardoning several convicts, including Lutsenko. The ex-minister was released on the same day.