KIEV, Aug. 17 – A Ukrainian court on Friday sentenced opposition leader and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to two years in prison in the latest case seen by the West as politically motivated prosecution.

Lutsenko, who served as the interior minister under former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is serving four years for a separate charge and the latest verdict will not add to that jail time.

But the ruling means he will stay in prison even if the European Court of Human Rights overturns his previous conviction.

The U.S. said it was “disappointed” by the verdict in the trial, calling it a “politically motivated prosecution of opposition members.”

In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Kiev said the prosecution of Lutsenko and his close ally Tymoshenko, raises serious concerns about Ukraine's commitment to democracy and rule of law.

The court on Friday found Lutsenko acted negligently in authorizing an illegal extension of surveillance over another former official's driver suspended in involvement in alleged poisoning for Viktor Yushchenko during his presidential election campaign in the fall of 2004.

Lutsenko’s previous conviction was for embezzlement and abuse of office.

Lutsenko denied wrongdoing in both cases.

"This verdict means that no one can defend himself in this country,” Lutsenko told the court room. “There is no justice in this country."

His lawyer Oleksiy Bohdanets said Lutsenko would appeal.

Tymoshenko was convicted for abuse of office last October and sentenced to seven years in prison in a case that has damaged Ukraine's relations with the West.

Tymoshenko is seen as President Viktor Yanukovych’s main political opponent.

The European Union and the United States say Tymoshenko's jailing and the prosecution of Lutsenko were examples of selective justice.

After she lost the 2010 presidential election to Yanukovych in a close run-off, Tymoshenko and a number of her allies faced criminal charges in what she described as a campaign of repression.

Another ex-member of her cabinet, former acting defense minister has been sentenced to five years in prison, although an appeals court this week changed his sentence to a suspended one, Reuters reported.

Former economy minister Bohdan Danylyshyn - pursued on similar charges - left Ukraine and has been granted political asylum in the Czech Republic.

Tymoshenko herself is appealing her conviction and at the same time standing trial on fresh charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. (nr/rt/ez)