Police Pull Out of Kiev Square After Move on Demonstrators [View all]
Source: NYT
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ANDREW E. KRAMER
KIEV, Ukraine — After a night of clashes with protesters in Independence Square, security forces appeared to pull back Wednesday from the central plaza in Kiev where demonstrators have been rallying against the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich for more than two weeks.
The police had taken control of a large section of the square and brought in front-end loaders and other heavy equipment to clear it. But by 11 a.m., the police presence had dwindled and pedestrians were walking freely through the square.
The interior minister, Vitaliy Zakharchenko, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the overnight crackdown had been needed to ease traffic congestion in Kiev and promised that there would be no dispersal of the protesters in the square.
“No one infringes on citizens’ rights to peaceful protests,” he said. “But we cannot ignore the rights and legal interests of other citizens.”
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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/europe/police-storm-kiev-square-as-crisis-grows.html?partner=EXCITE&ei=5043&_r=0
Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
After Clashes, Police Pull Out of Kiev Square: Ukraine’s authorities halted their crackdown in Independence Square after a night of clashes with protesters who have been rallying against the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
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