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Ukrainian parliament to consider law on amnesty, repeal of Jan 16 laws

Law on amnesty may come into force on condition that all the buildings seized by opposition supporters will be unblocked

KIEV, January 28. /ITAR-TASS/. The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday plans to consider two issues aimed at overcoming the acute political crisis.

One is a law on amnesty to release all who have been detained during the protests in Ukraine, a deputy from the ruling Party of Regions, Oleg Tsarev, said.

"The bill was drafted for purposes of liquidation of the negative consequences and prevention of prosecution of people in connection with the events which took place during mass protest acts in December 2013 - January 2014. The enactment of the bill will help lessen tension in the society," said the author of the bill, a representative of the Batkivshchina party at the Ukrainian Rada, Leonid Yemets.

The law may come into force on condition that all the buildings seized by opposition supporters will be unblocked.

The parliament is ready also to consider another document to repeal the laws of January 16, the deputy said. The documents include laws imposing tougher measures for law violations in mass demonstrations, extremism and prosecution for destroying monuments and a law prohibiting fascism propaganda.

Lawmakers are working on a roadmap to come out of the confrontation. Factually, a list of decisions is being prepared. At present, they are under discussion, Tsarev said, adding that under such conditions of mutual no-confidence, one step should be made by the authorities, and the next step by the opposition.

The authorities have made their step - the prosecutor general and the interior minister have proposed to release detained persons from custody, and the opposition has unblocked the buildings of the Justice Ministry and the Energy and Coal Ministry, the legislators said, noting it was a positive sign.