Valentyn Nalyvaychenko is a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to Belarus, and is currently a member of parliament under the UDAR party, led by the boxer-turned-political-heavyweight Vitali Klitschko. — Ed.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, “that gave the criminal order to use force and torture against innocent people, follows the course of Slobodan Milosevic. Such leaders should be dismissed and criminally prosecuted, and the Interior Ministry should be purged.” This was stated by Valentyn Nalivaychenko, a legislator representing the UDAR party [Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform of Vitali Klitschko] in his interview to the ZIK TV channel, according to the party press-service.
Nalivaychenko reminded that the law requires law enforcement personnel to protect and defend peaceful demonstrators. “Special forces are used against armed criminals, in case of prison riots, and against armed criminals attacking nuclear facilities. And at Maidan there were Ukrainian children. It was against them that the police batons were used,” stressed the politician.
The deputy expressed the belief that the Parliament and the public need to regain control over the law enforcement authorities. “As to the leaders who broke the law, they should be disqualified to hold similar positions in the future to make sure they won’t be able to give criminal orders”, he added.
Yesterday President Yanukovych signed the law “On elimination of negative impacts and prohibition of prosecution and punishment in connection with the events that took place during a peaceful assemblies.”
On December 19, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law prohibiting persecution of protesters after the collapse of European integration. The Act provides that all felony and misdemeanor cases must be closed. Persons indicted in connection with these events shall be exempt from liability and deemed to have no criminal record.