Ukraine state of emergency warning

Written By Unknown on Senin, 27 Januari 2014 | 18.19

27 January 2014 Last updated at 04:47 ET
A barricade inside the justice ministry

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The BBC's Matthew Price reports from inside the occupied Ukrainian justice ministry in Kiev

Ukraine's justice minister has warned anti-government protesters occupying her ministry she will call for a state of emergency if they do not leave.

Olena Lukash told local media she would ask the National Security and Defence Council to introduce the measures.

Protesters seized the building in Kiev late on Sunday and set up barricades outside with bags of snow.

Unrest is spreading across Ukraine, with activists taking over municipal buildings in up to 10 cities.

Buildings have come under attack even in eastern areas which have traditionally had closer ties with Russia and where President Viktor Yanukovych has enjoyed strong support.

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At the scene

Protesters say there weren't any guards at the justice ministry, they simply smashed their way through the window - now barricaded by furniture - and went in.

They are busy making another barricade out of compressed snow shovelled into bags, and hosing the nearby pavement on the inclined street with water. There is no sight of police of any kind.

The one policeman I found was about to lock the entrance to a nearby Metro station. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and said: "Nothing surprises us anymore."

When I asked what the activists intended to do with the ministry and how they were going to run it, a masked man said: "We don't need this justice for sale anymore."

The crisis was sparked by the president's decision not to sign an EU deal, and has escalated with the deaths of four activists in recent days.

Correspondents say protesters entered the justice ministry building in the capital without resistance.

"The seizure of the Ministry of Justice is a symbolic act of the people of the uprising. Now, these authorities are stripped of justice," one protester told reporters.

One of the organisers of the occupation, who gave his name as Oleg, said the building was being used to shelter those enduring freezing conditions in street protests nearby.

He told the Associated Press news agency: "We are not going to do any hooliganism, or have anyone hurt. We are peaceful people, we are for justice."

But Ms Lukash told Inter TV channel: "If the protesters do not leave the justice ministry building... I will ask the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to impose the state of emergency."

She said water had been sprayed inside the building, "turning it into a veritable ice rink".

The minister is involved in the ongoing negotiations between the government and protest leaders, but said she would be "forced to turn to the Ukrainian president with a request to stop the negotiations unless the justice ministry building is vacated without delay and the negotiators are given a chance to find a peaceful solution to the conflict".

Last week, the parliament of the Crimean Autonomous Republic - seen as a staunch supporter of Mr Yanukovych - also urged the president to declare a state of emergency.

The parliament is due to meet for an extraordinary session on Tuesday, but the speaker has previously said a state of emergency will not be under discussion.

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Key dates

21 Nov 2013: Ukraine announces it will not sign a deal aimed at strengthening ties with the EU

30 Nov: Riot police detain dozens of anti-government protesters in a violent crackdown in Kiev

17 Dec: Russia agrees to buy $15bn (£9.2bn, 11bn euros) of Ukrainian government bonds and slash the price of gas it sells to the country

22 Jan 2014: Two protesters die from bullet wounds during clashes with police in Kiev; protests spread across many cities

25 Jan: President Yanukovych offers senior jobs to the opposition, including that of prime minister, but these are rejected

Election call

Street protests began in Kiev in November, after President Yanukovych announced he would not sign the long-awaited EU free trade agreement.

The protesters were further angered by the introduction of new laws last week aimed at cracking down on unrest by banning tents being put up in public places and the wearing of helmets and masks.

The opposition is demanding that the EU deal be signed, political prisoners - including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - freed and the new laws repealed.

The fresh unrest comes after opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected President Yanukovych's offer to appoint him prime minister, saying the key demands must be met.

Although the protest movement - the EuroMaidan - is largely peaceful, a hardcore of radicals have been fighting battles with police away from the main protest camp in Maidan, or Independence Square.

Reports now suggest unrest is spreading further into the country's east, which is seen as Mr Yanukovych's support base.

In north-eastern Sumy, protesters occupied the city's council building, Ukraine's Unian news agency reports, while police used tear gas as several thousand people tried to storm the state regional administration building.

Unrest was also reported across the country, with protests and attempts - some successful - to seize government buildings.

Towns and cities affected include: Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk in the south-east, Cherkasy, south of Kiev: the main western city of Lviv: Chernihiv in the north and Odessa on the Black Sea coast.


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