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Ukrainian presidential aide calls for revocation of public disorder laws

Laws which are not accepted by society cannot be legitimate - presidential aide

KIEV, January 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Laws on mass gatherings, passed by the Ukrainian parliament earlier in the month, cannot be considered “legitimate” and should be revoked, a presidential aide said on Monday.

A package of laws on violations of public order sparked a wave of mass protests across Ukraine, resulting in fierce clashes between protesters and police. At least three protesters are believed to have been killed and up to 200 policemen injured.

“The issue of revocation of laws, which society rejected, can and must be resolved in a legal way,” Marina Stavniichuk said. “These laws contain a set of discriminatory and disproportional norms having no legal clarity.”

She said that a number of procedural provisions stated by the Ukrainian Constitution and the parliament’s regulations had been violated when the laws were passed on January 16.

“Laws which are not accepted by society cannot be legitimate,” Stavniichuk added.

In most recent development in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, an opposition group "Spilna Sprava" (Common Cause) seized the building of the country’s Justice Ministry in the early hours on Monday. Justice Minister Yelena Lukash urged them to free the ministerial building, threatening to raise the issue of introducing a state of emergency in the country.