You're reading: Yanukovych: Rallies near residence in Mezhyhirya should be lawful

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said he believes that rallies near his residence in Mezhyhirya (Kyiv region) should only be held within the law, presidential spokesperson Daria Chepak has said in a response to a request from the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper.

“The Ukrainian president believes that such events… should be
regulated exclusively in the legislative field. However, the head of
state is convinced that the legal settlement of the issue of peaceful
assembly in Ukraine needs to be improved,” reads the response.

Chepak also noted that in January 2011, Yanukovych signed an action
plan on the fulfillment by Ukraine of its obligations to the Council of
Europe, in which the Ukrainian Justice Ministry is obliged to provide
support in the Verkhovna Rada for a draft law on the organization and
holding of peaceful assemblies.

She also referred to the strategy of public policy to promote the
development of civil society in Ukraine, which was approved by the
president in 2012: “In line with the strategy, public policy will also
envisage the improvement of procedures for holding peaceful assembly.”

As reported, on April 15, about 50 members of the Democratic Alliance
picketed the entrance to the residence of the Ukrainian president in
Mezhyhirya.

During the rally nearly two-dozen men in black clothes, without
identifying themselves, started pushing the activists away. The
activists resisted the unknown men, and the police detained several
protesters, but later released them.

At the same time, the media liaisons department of the Ukrainian
Interior Ministry’s main office in Kyiv region told Interfax-Ukraine
that the police had not detained protesters in Mezhyhirya, but only
maintained public order, and prevented activists from violating traffic
rules.