Pro-EU Ukrainian activists on Sunday prepared to take to the streets of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to defy controversial new curbs on rallies condemned by the West.
President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday signed a legislation that prohibits nearly all forms of protests in a move the opposition called a power grab and the West said was anti-democratic.
The curbs are expected to breathe new life into the protest movement against the 63-year-old leader who late last year ditched a key pact with the EU under pressure from Russia, resulting in huge protests in the country.
At the height of the protests last month, tens of thousands took to the streets deamnding the president’s resignation and early polls.
But the opposition has so far been unable to overthrow Yanukovych who faces election early next year.
The pro-EU movement — led by three opposition leaders including former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko — have called on Ukrainians to mount a strong response to the laws and said it was preparing a nationwide strike.
The new laws allow the authorities to jail those who barricade public buildings for up to five years and permit the arrest of protesters who wear masks or helmets.
Other provisions ban the distribution of “slander” on the Internet and introduce the term “foreign agent” to be applied to NGOs that receive foreign funding.
The opposition fears that the government will use the new legislation to prosecute its leaders and break up the protest movement.
Critics say Yanukovych has followed in the footsteps of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pushed through similar laws after returning to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012 after huge protests against his decade-long rule.
The protests in Ukraine — the largest demonstrations since the pro-democracy Orange Revolution in 2004 — have repeatedly descended into clashes with police in which hundreds of people have been hurt.