KIEV, December 1 (RIA Novosti) – A district court ordered Sunday a ban on holding mass protests in downtown Kiev from Sunday until January 7, after Ukrainian riot police brutally broke up a pro-Europe rally, leaving dozens injured.
About 40 people sought medical help after riot police cracked down on protesters camping out in the Independence Square in the capital Kiev Saturday, Channel 5 television reported. Another 33 activists were detained by police, the report said. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said 12 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters.
The city administration appealed to a court to ban protests in front of the parliament and government, the president’s administration and the Interior Ministry, as well as at the European Square and the Independence Square, the venue for the “Orange Revolution” of 2004.
Protesters regrouped Saturday near a monastery at Mykhailivska Square in downtown Kiev, which became the new place for continuing pro-EU rallies. Activists spent a night there and said they would form a national resistance task force to prepare a nationwide strike.
In the wake of the crackdown, which has been condemned by several Western countries, Ukrainian opposition figures voiced calls for the sacking of the country’s police chief, as well as snap presidential and parliamentary elections, now set for 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said in an address to Ukrainians, posted Saturday on his web site, that he was “deeply outraged” by violence and injuries in Kiev. He vowed that those responsible for the violent confrontation would be punished after an immediate and objective investigation.
A spate of rallies by pro-EU protesters took place across Ukraine over the past week, after Kiev decided to suspend the planned signing of the association agreement and free trade deals with the EU.
The Ukrainian government cited significant economic losses because of shrinking trade volumes with Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an alliance of former Soviet countries, as the reason for the decision.
Ukraine instead proposed the creation of a trilateral commission between itself, Russia and the European Union to explore ways to deepen mutual ties. However, EU leaders rejected the proposal Friday saying that Europe does not need “a trilateral agreement for a bilateral deal.”
