KIEV, November 9 (RIA Novosti) — Ukraine's Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov on Sunday went back on the promise to pardon those opposing government troops in the country's east as stipulated by the Minsk peace protocol, a Ukrainian TV channel said.
"An amnesty law had been voted on but no preconditions for the amnesty… followed, so I did not sign it," Turchynov said in an interview with the 1+1 channel.
Conflict in Ukraine escalated in March after two eastern regions refused to recognize the new government that came to power after a February coup, prompting Kiev to launch a military operation in Donetsk and Luhansk.
On September 5, warring parties signed the so-called Minsk protocol, a roadmap for the Ukrainian peace settlement that envisaged a ceasefire and a law granting special status to the east. It also implied that the Ukrainian parliament must adopt a law that would pardon anti-government forces in Donbas.
The law on amnesty envisaged that militia and their supporters should be freed if they are not suspected of having committed felonies or are implicated by Kiev in the alleged downing of the MH17 plane in eastern Ukraine.
