Church condemns police action

The Ukrainian Catholic bishops have strongly condemned the use of force against opposition demonstrations in Kiev, while the students and teachers of the Ukrainian Catholic University in
the country’s capital called for civil disobedience against the Ukrainian authorities, writes Josef Pazderka.

The calls came after dozens of Ukrainian riot police moved to clear thousands of the pro-EU protesters from the central Kiev square last week. Using tear gas and physical force, they tried to clear the square but were repelled. The demonstrators, angered by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the association agreement with the EU, have regrouped and have set up a makeshift tent village on the central Kiev Maidan