UKRAINE: Anti-government protesters stage their first mass rally of 2014, opposition leaders repeat their call for EU sanctions against members of President Yanukovich's government

Record ID: 214141

  • Title: UKRAINE: Anti-government protesters stage their first mass rally of 2014, opposition leaders repeat their call for EU sanctions against members of President Yanukovich's government
  • Date: 12th January 2014
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (JANUARY 12, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BARRICADES ON CENTRAL KIEV STREET VARIOUS TOP VIEWS OF OPPOSITION RALLY IN INDEPENDENCE SQUARE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS AND OPPOSITION LEADERS ON STAGE SINGING UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM
  • Embargoed: 27th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA66WZTEM08B3QPAWEXFQZ7V4Y8
  • Story Text: At least 50,000 opponents of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich rallied in a central Kiev square on Sunday (January 12), reviving the protest movement after a Christmas and New Year lull.
    The mass rally in Independence Square was a continuation of street protests that erupted in November following Yanukovich's decision to abandon a free trade agreement with Europe in favour of closer cooperation with Russia.
    Sunday's demonstration came a day after baton-wielding riot police tried to disperse protesters outside a Kiev courthouse, sparking clashes in which at least ten people were injured.
    Opposition leader and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko told the crowd that peaceful protests would continue.

    "Today the authorities use the militia as a weapon, silencing the people's mouths with batons. We don't want to live in such conditions. We will not live like that and we will fight to change the country. I am certain that this split [between the public and the police] also needs to be eliminated. Law must prevail."
    Klitschko repeated the opposition's call for early presidential elections. Unless the vote is brought forward, a presidential race is not due until 2015.
    Another opposition leader, Arseny Yatsenyuk, called on the West to impose sanctions against senior state officials, including Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko, who, he said, had violated Ukraine's constitution by authorising the use of force against the protesters.

    "We have our key request to our Western partners, it is time to act. The time for talks is over. The first to be sanctioned by the West is the Interior Minister Zakharchenko and all of this gang that gave an order to beat people. And that's our message top the West."
    In November, Yanukovich's government walked away at the last minute from a deal tying Ukraine closer to the European Union and opted for closer ties with Kiev's Soviet-era overlord Moscow. [ID:nL6N0JW1PY] The decision prompted street demonstrations opposing the decision and the movement quickly developed into an all-out protest against Yanukovich and his government.
    The protest rallies attracted as many as 800,000 people at their height but the movement quietened over New Year and the Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas, which was celebrated on Jan.7.
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