KIEV, January 31. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich signed an amnesty law earlier on Friday. The document had been drafted by Yuri Miroshnichenko, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative in parliament and a deputy of the ruling Party of Regions. The law grants an amnesty for all the protesters detained during the recent riots in Kiev except for those suspected of grave crimes. However, the amnesty law demands that the demonstrators vacate the seized government buildings in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine in the next 15 days.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Friday that the law which removed all negative consequences of the recent clashes and banned the prosecution and punishment of protesters (an amnesty law) was an important and vital step forward towards settling the conflict and ending a violent standoff on Kiev’s Grushevsky Street.

“Policemen and the internal troops demonstrated restraint and firmness during attacks on them despite the fact that the protesters threw stones, pyrotechnical devices and Molotov cocktails and fired from pneumatic and traumatic weapons,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The ministry emphasized that representatives of the world community had praised the Kiev police for professionalism and reserved actions and called on the demonstrators to find a compromise, end violence and vacate all official buildings.

“The people whom police detained on Grushevsky Street were not just peaceful protesters. They are suspected of committing grave crimes, such as attacks on law enforcers, organizations of mass riots, arsons, etc. The authorities understand that many of them succumbed to emotions and let themselves to be influenced by radicals. A law was drafted with an aim to end the confrontation. It will put an end to violence and reduce tensions in society but will allow peaceful protests,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.