Translated by Marina Grip
Source: http://tvi.ua/new/2014/01/31/mvs_vyazni_hrushevskoho__ne_myrni_protestuvalnyky

The participants of the mass riots detained by the police on Hrushevskoho street are not peaceful protesters, but are people suspected of serious crimes: attacks on police officers, riots, burning vehicles and more. This was said in a statement on the website of MIA.

“The government is aware that many of them have succumbed to emotions or followed in the wake of radicals. Therefore, in order to stop the confrontation, a law was developed which will not interfere with peaceful protests, but will stop the violence and remove tension in the society” – such is the comment to the amnesty law already signed by President Yanukovych.

This law, as known, provides for the release of detainees only in exchange for clearing Hrushevskoho Street as well as other streets and squares (the specific list is not written in the law) and release of the captured administrative buildings. In addition, the activists will not be released until the Prosecutor General’s office of Ukraine posts a report on its homepage confirming the full release of streets and administrative buildings.

This law was recently adopted by the majority of the Parliament, the opposition abstained from voting. Euromaidan representatives stated that there was no intention to release the streets or the administrative buildings, because people do not trust the promises of the authorities and are waiting for the actual fulfillment of their demands.

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Law adopted by Parliament
Source: http://tvi.ua/new/2014/01/28/yanukovych_pidpysav_zakon_pro_skasuvannya_dyktatorskykh_zakoniv

The President has canceled the scandalous “laws of January 16” and legitimized his condition for freeing the hostages

President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law adopted by the Parliament regarding the abolishment of the nine dictatorial laws. He has also signed the law on preventing harassment of the peaceful demonstration participants.

According to the press service of the President, the following laws were also signed:

#732 -VII “On declaring certain Laws of Ukraine null and void” (abolition of nine laws approved on January 16) ;
#733 -VII “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On free legal aid” regarding the postponing of enactment of the provisions of paragraph 6 of Chapter VI “Concluding & Transitional Provisions”;

#734 -VII “On Amendments to Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding liability for destruction or desecration of monuments erected in memory of those who fought against Nazism during the Second World War: the Soviet soldiers-liberators, members of the guerrilla movement, underground fighters, victims of Nazi persecution, as well as soldiers-internationalists and peacekeepers”;

#735 -VII “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding liability for denial or justification of crimes of fascism”;

#736 -VII “On Amendments to Article 197 of the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding exemption from value added tax on transactions of import of natural gas into the customs territory of Ukraine”;

#737 -VII “On elimination of negative impacts and prevention of prosecution and punishment for the persons due to the events that took place during peaceful gatherings ” (the so called amnesty law that provides for the release of the detained Maidan-activists in exchange for the clearing Hrushevskoho street and the occupied buildings from the activists).

Earlier the Parliament had abolished the Law № 721-1 (the Law of Kolesnichenko – Oleynik, “On Amending the Law of Ukraine “On Judicial System and Status of Judges” and to the procedural laws regarding the additional protective measures for the security of citizens”) as well as the laws #722-7, 723-7, 724, 725, 726-7, 727-7, 728-7, 729-7. These documents, which were adopted by the Parliament on January 16th in “manual mode”, provided for limiting the rights of the Ukrainian citizens. It is the adoption of these laws that led to an aggravation of the protests and the bloodshed on Hrushevskoho street.