Ukraine opposition demands unconditional amnesty

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The EU-backed opposition parties in Ukraine have dismissed an amnesty law adopted by the country’s parliament that aims to bring the country’s political crisis to an end.

The Ukrainian parliament voted for the amnesty bill by 232 out of the 450 total members late on Wednesday as part of a number of concessions the government of President Victor Yanukovych has made to gain the opposition’s satisfaction and end the unrest that has crippled the country for more than two months.

The terms of the bill, for which opposition parties abstained from voting, included a call for protesters to leave occupied government buildings and scale back their gatherings across the cities, particularly the capital, Kiev.

The amnesty was to take effect automatically once the general prosecutor confirmed in an official statement that the protesters have left all government buildings as well as certain streets all across the country.

The law offered blanket amnesty to all the people who took part in anti-government protests, except those who were suspected of committing major crimes such as murder or abduction.

However, heads of the opposition parties rejected the law and demanded an unconditional amnesty. They also vowed to move ahead with their protest marches and gatherings.

The amnesty bill was submitted by the ruling Party of Regions. It was the third major concession in the past few days made in response to the opposition’s demands.

Earlier measures included the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his cabinet and the repeal of a new anti-protest law.

Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests ever since Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on November 29, 2013.

Opposition groups have set up barricades across Ukrainian cities and occupied key municipal buildings.