30/01/2014 10:58
Ukraine parliament passes protest amnesty law
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law providing amnesty to protesters detained during recent unrest, the BBC reported.
Opposition parties abstained from voting, in anger at a condition in the bill which means it will only apply if protesters abandon government buildings they have occupied in recent days.
Protesters on the streets of the capital also rejected the move.
The protests began in November after President Viktor Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign an EU trade deal.
The next month he signed a $15bn-worth (£9.2bn; 10.9bn euros) bailout deal with Russia.
On Wednesday, the EU's top foreign policy chief said she was "shocked" by the deadly violence in the capital and across the country in recent weeks.
Catherine Ashton - who was in Kiev for talks with Mr Yanukovych and opposition groups - said Ukraine needed "a political process that is engaged in quickly and properly by everyone."
"The responsibility is inevitably going to fall on government to do that as quickly as possible," she said.
Late on Wednesday, the amnesty bill was passed by 232 votes to 11, with the backing of Mr Yanukovych's majority Party of the Regions.
But 173 MPs did not vote, and there were shouts of protest from opposition members.
"Parliament has just passed a law on hostages," said Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the far-right group Svoboda (Freedom) and a key figure in the protests.
"The authorities have themselves recognised that they are taking hostages as terrorists do, so they can trade the hostages," he said.