Ukraine unrest: Second night of violence on Kiev streets
The BBC's Daniel Sandford said protesters "rained fireworks onto police officers' heads" in Kiev
Clashes have continued for a second consecutive night in a square in central Kiev.
Young men threw fireworks and petrol bombs at police guarding the road leading up to the Ukrainian parliament. Police violently beat some of the protesters they captured.
President Viktor Yanukovych has warned that the violence threatens the country's stability.
Controversial anti-protest laws passed last week are due to come into force.
The measures, which have been criticised by European Union foreign ministers, include a ban on unauthorised installation of tents or amplifiers in public places, and large fines or jail for breaches of the law.
Protesters have been camped out in Kiev since late November, angered by the government's ties with Russia and its rejection of a planned treaty with the EU.
Violence condemnedLines of riot police still held the road leading up to parliament on Tuesday morning, behind burnt-out buses and barricades, reports the BBC's Daniel Sandford in Kiev.
Fighting went on throughout the night, with police using tear gas and stun grenades against several hundred young men ranged against them.
At times, thousands of people cheered from the sidelines. Police made several arrests.
The violence is in fact restricted to one small square in central Kiev, but none of the main political leaders seems able to stop it, our correspondent says.
Two leading opposition figures, former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, have condemned violent protests - which some blame a little-known far-right group, Right Sector, for initiating.
Mr Klitschko, reported AP news agency, has accused the government of paying thugs to delegitimise the protests through violence.
Hundreds of people have been wounded in the latest surge of violent clashes that erupted on Sunday 
Protesters put together their own improvised armoured outfits in order to confront police 
The protesters are demanding the resignation of President Yanukovych and early elections A raft of anti-protest laws passed hastily by parliament last week was published in Golos Ukrainy, a parliamentary newspaper, on Tuesday, signalling that they will imminently come into force, said reports.
They prescribe jail terms for anyone blockading public buildings, and ban the wearing of masks or helmets at demonstrations.
They also ban any unauthorised tents in public areas and make slandering government officials a crime.
In a statement on Monday evening, President Yanukovych said that "now, when peaceful actions are turning into mass unrest, accompanied by riots and arson attacks, the use of violence, I am convinced that such phenomena are a threat not only to Kiev but to the whole of Ukraine".
President Yanukovych says he is now ready to negotiate with opposition leaders. A cross-party commission has been set up to try to resolve the crisis.
Former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, who was injured in clashes earlier this month, is among four representatives of the opposition who will be taking part in the talks with the authorities, according to the website for Ukraine's Fatherland Party.
No comments:
Post a Comment