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Yanukovych Pardons Ukraine's Maidan Protesters

By The Moscow Times

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed into law a bill pardoning protesters detained at demonstrations calling for integration with the European Union and the resignation of the country's Cabinet.

The bill, signed into law by the president on Monday, was adopted by Ukraine's parliament on Thursday, garnering 339 votes out of the 367 lawmakers who attended the session.

The amnesty guarantees that no new cases will be opened against Ukrainian pro-EU protesters, and that current convictions will be annulled.

Ukraine surprised the European Union last month by announcing that it was indefinitely postponing the signing of an association agreement with the bloc, opting instead to strengthen ties with a Moscow-led customs bloc.

Ukraine's rejection of the EU deal incited mass protests and threw the country into a political crisis, with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians attending rallies at Kiev's Maidan square demanding the dissolution of the government and calling for early elections.

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