09:38 01.09.2015

Svoboda accuses Ukrainian authorities of organizing provocations outside parliament, demands interior minister's resignation

2 min read
Svoboda accuses Ukrainian authorities of organizing provocations outside parliament, demands interior minister's resignation

The All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda has blamed the current government for the events outside the building of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

"It is the government, jointly with the pro-Russian Opposition Bloc, which has provoked the Ukrainians into protest by putting before parliament and voting on a first reading for the changes to the Ukrainian Constitution which grant a special status for Donbas …," Svoboda said in a statement on Monday.

Its authors stressed that it was the police who first used force against the picketers, thereby provoking multiple clashes, and law enforcers failed to take due steps to neutralize the provocateurs.

"It is obvious that the use of an explosive device that someone had thrown at law enforcers was a pre-planned provocation aimed against the Ukrainian patriots," the statement reads.

The party demanded a resignation of Interior Minister Avakov whom it has accused of criminal inaction that led to the tragedy.

Svoboda asked members of the parliamentary coalition not to vote for the bill when it reached a second reading.

On Monday the Rada voted on a presidential bill proposing power-decentralization changes to the Ukrainian Constitution. After a heated debate, 265 parliamentarians voted for a preliminary approval of the constitutional changes.

The vote immediately sparked clashes outside the Rada building between police and Ukrainian power-decentralization opponents who rallied outside. A grenade was thrown at policemen during the riots; according to the latest figures, around 140 people were injured, a National Guard soldier was killed.

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