UKRAINE: Kiev protesters end city hall occupation but press President Viktor Yanukovich for new elections and release of all detainees without criminal charges

Record ID: 214178

  • Title: UKRAINE: Kiev protesters end city hall occupation but press President Viktor Yanukovich for new elections and release of all detainees without criminal charges
  • Date: 16th February 2014
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (FEBRUARY 16, 2014) (REUTERS) CROWD OF OPPONENTS OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YANUKOVICH AT RALLY PEOPLE IN CROWD IN CROWD, VARIOUS OF UNITS OF SELF DEFENCE: PEOPLE WITH MILITARY-STYLE HELMETS, SOME WITH THEIR FACES COVERED WITH BLACK BALACLAVA YATSENYUK ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION BATKYVSHCHYNA PARTY, ARSENIY YATSENYUK, SAYING: "Our targets are: signing the association agreement with Europe and integration with Europe. The target is to free all political prisoners and to free Yulia Tymoshenko and the target is to hold fair and honest presidential elections." CROWD ON SQUARE, PHOTOGRAPH OF TYMOSHENKO ON COLUMN LEADER OF OPPOSITION UDAR PARTY VITALY KLITSCHKO ADDRESSING CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LEADER OF OPPOSITION UDAR PARTY, VITALY KLITSCHKO, SAYING: "We will make authorities drop all criminal cases, I repeat, all criminal cases, against activists because the authorities think they can trick everyone. They released them (on home arrest) and they can throw them behind bars at any moment." WOMAN LISTENING CROWD LISTENING KLITSCHKO LEAVING STAGE UNDER APPLAUSE CROWD APPLAUDING SELF DEFENCE UNITS IN CROWD, CROWD SINGING CROWD SINGING UKRAINIAN FLAG ON BARRICADE BULLDOZER AND CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS SELF DEFENCE FORCES BARRICADE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MEMBER OF OPPOSITION BATKIVSHCHYNA PARTY, ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO, SAYING: "That was a good will gesture, we are saying we are ready to open the passage on Grushevskogo Street and we expect the authorities will withdraw troops which are illegally occupying this street." RIOT POLICE ANTI GOVERNMENT PROTESTER AND MEMBER OF SELF DEFENCE GROUP LOOKING OVER BARRICADE VARIOUS OF MUNICIPAL WORKERS CLEANING UP STREET ON POLICE SIDE OF BARRICADE VARIOUS OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS BUILDING GATE FOR BARRICADE POLICE LOOKING ON
  • Embargoed: 3rd March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1WJ4KET519XLTCWLAU887GQ5H
  • Story Text: Ukrainian protesters and police both made conciliatory gestures on Sunday (February 16) but Ukrainian opposition leaders maintained the pressure on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, repeating their calls for new elections and the release of all detainees without criminal charges.
    Ukrainian opposition protesters ended a two-month occupation of city hall in Kiev on Sunday and opened a road to limited traffic to meet an amnesty offer aimed at easing a stand-off over President Viktor Yanukovich's rule.
    The authorities, on their part, withdrew riot police from a flashpoint district of the capital, near the Dynamo Kiev football stadium, where at least three protesters died in January in violence between activists and police.
    In the crowd and throughout the city, groups of self defence units are more visible. Against this background, Western governments have expressed fears of an escalation of conflict and breakdown of law and order unless Yanukovich meets opposition demands.
    At a rally attended by thousands, opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Viktor Klitschko reiterated their demands, showing they haven't lower their expectations despite the earlier conciliatory moves.
    "Our targets are: signing the association agreement with Europe and integration with Europe. The target is to free all political prisoners and to free Yulia Tymoshenko and the target is to hold fair and honest presidential elections," Yatsenyuk said.
    "We will make authorities drop all criminal cases, I repeat, all criminal cases, against activists because the authorities think they can trick everyone. They released them (on home arrest) and they can throw them behind bars at any moment," Klitschko said.
    Tension continued to simmer in the barricades and the protesters vowed to occupy the buildings they had vacated if the government didn't fufil its end of the deal.
    The unrest was sparked by Yanukovich in November when he spurned a free trade agreement long in the making with the European Union and opted for a $15 billion package of Russian credits and cheaper gas to shore up Ukraine's ailing economy.
    The revolt spiralled into countrywide protests at perceived sleaze and corruption in the Yanukovich administration and has triggered a geopolitical tussle between East and West.
    As Russia beckons with a $15 billion aid package to plug holes in Ukraine's heavily-indebted economy, the United States and its Western allies have urged him to move back towards an IMF-backed deal with Europe.
    At least six people have been killed and hundreds of people - police and protesters - injured in the bloodshed.
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