Verkhovna Rada adopts Maidan amnesty law
They have adopted the draft suggested by the Party of Regions.
The adoption of an amnesty law to avoid prosecution of protesters was one of the opposition’s demands.
The Verkhovna Rada meeting took the whole day. The opposition and the majority of pro-governmental MPs could not reach an agreement for a long time. As a result, they decided to keep working until the amnesty law was adopted.
The opposition wanted to amnesty all protesters. The Party of Regions demanded to unblock streets, squares and roads and free the seized buildings first.
President Victor Yanukovich came to the Parliament late in the evening. He discussed the situation in the country and ways out of the crisis with the Party of Regions. Yanukovich also met the leaders of opposition factions and tried to persuade them to support the draft suggested by the Party of Regions but they refused. He threatened to dissolve the Parliament and conduct an early parliamentary election.
As a result, the pro-governmental majority voted for the draft of the Party of Regions without discussing it (232 MPs voted pro when only 226 votes were needed). The amnesty will come into power only after protesters make concessions. Those who committed serious crimes will not be amnestied.
