Supporters of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich paved the way for a crackdown on anti-government protesters by enacting draconian penalties for occupying public buildings or blocking roads.
The measures, rammed through a chaotic parliament on Thursday using dubious procedures, are likely to exacerbate the political crisis that has gripped the country since November.
The legislation, which has yet to be signed into law by Mr Yanukovich, is aimed at stamping out various forms of peaceful protest used by demonstrators for almost two months following the president’s decision to turn away from seeking closer ties with the EU in favour of a tilt towards Russia.
The rules would introduce 10-year jail terms for blockading government buildings, hefty fines and prison terms for protesters who wear face masks and helmets, and driving bans for people who form convoys of more than five cars.
The legislation appears to mirror public order controls adopted in neighbouring Russia. It would require all internet-based media to register with the authorities while purchasers of pre-paid mobile phone services would have to provide passport information – an apparent attempt to prevent anonymous communications.
The rules were adopted in an unconventional manner in parliament. While opposition lawmakers were occupying the dais of the chamber, pro-Yanukovich MPs huddled on the other side and hall and adopted 11 new laws – by shows of hands that were too rapid to actually be counted.
The driving ban is apparently aimed at demonstrators who have organised mass convoys of cars outside the homes of Mr Yanukovich and other senior officials. Those who violate the five-car convoy ban will be banned from driving for two years.
The legislation would also make it easier to strip immunity from members of parliament The opposition claims it is aimed at sidelining legislators who back the protests by tying them up in criminal proceedings.
As the ambassadors of the US and EU to Kiev sought to question the legitimacy of Thursday’s voting, opposition leaders and Ukrainian activists flooded social media with concerns that their country was sliding into authoritarianism.
Contrasting Ukraine with the neighbouring authoritarian state of Belarus, Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst, tweeted: “The events unfolding in parliament in past hours mean that either a Belarus scenario is being prepared, or it’s the end of parliament in its current form.”
He added: “Those that think that they are solving the crisis this way are only deepening it.”
Arseniy Yatseniuk, who heads the Fatherland party of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, said: “Today, Yanukovich and the Party of Regions committed a crime.?.?. They usurped power.”
Describing the voting as a “constitutional coup”, he said the legislation was aimed at “jailing oppositionists”.
Oleg Tyahnybok, leader of the right-wing Svoboda party, said: “Parliamentarianism is dead.”
Many young social media-savvy protesters saw themselves targeted by another law that threatens to punish defamation spread through postings with up to two years in prison.
Another law designates members of non-government organisations funded by foreign governments or foundations as “foreign agents”.
“This is a clear attempt to set up a police state .?.?. to intimidate the protesters,” said Olexiy Haran, a political science professor and member of the protest movement’s co-ordination council. “With Yanukovich going against the will of the masses, with him seeking to hold on to power by setting up an authoritarian regime for the long-haul, it’s hard to see how things will unravel.”
The legislation follows increased calls by US politicians for their government to impose sanctions in the form of visa bans and asset freezes on Mr Yanukovich’s inner circle in response to violent riot police crackdowns on peaceful protesters.
(Published by Financial Times – January 16, 2014)