Anti-protest laws in Ukraine

The Ukrainian anti-protest laws are a group of ten laws restricting freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The laws were passed by the Parliament of Ukraine on January 16, 2014, (referred to as Black Thursday) and signed into law by President Viktor Yanukovych the following day, amid massive anti-government protests that started in November. The laws are collectively known as the "dictatorship laws" (Ukrainian: закони про диктатуру) by Euromaidan activists,non-governmental organizations, scholars, and the Ukrainian media.

Western nations have criticised the laws for their undemocratic nature and their ability to significantly curb the rights to protest, free speech and the activity of non-governmental organisations. They have been described in the media and by experts as "", with Timothy Snyder claiming that they effectively established the nation as a dictatorship. The laws were widely denounced internationally, with US Secretary of State John Kerry describing them as "anti-democratic".

The laws were developed by MPs Vadym Kolesnychenko and Volodymyr Oliynyk from the ruling Party of Regions, and supported by a voting bloc consisting of the Party of Regions, the Communist Party and some independent MPs. They were adopted with a number of procedural violations. In accordance with enforcing the new laws, Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko pledged that "each offence will be met by our side harshly."

Nine anti-protest laws were cancelled by the Parliament on 28 January 2014.

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Wikipedia