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Bloody parliament brawl shocks Ukraine
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Bloody parliament brawl shocks Ukraine
AFP - 2 hours 53 minutes ago
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Bloody parliament brawl shocks Ukraine
KIEV (AFP) - – Ukrainian prosecutors on Friday opened an investigation after several opposition deputies were badly injured in a bloody brawl in parliament that saw punches thrown and chairs hurled.
The fight late on Thursday was violent even by the fractious standards of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and came amid tensions after a criminal probe was opened this week against opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Deputies from Tymoshenko's BYuT-Batkivshchyna party and the Regions Party of President Viktor Yanukovych slugged it out for several minutes behind the speaker's chair leaving at least three opposition MPs injured.
"The deputies of our faction were brutally beaten up by the Regions Party and we will make a complaint so that those who committed this crime are brought to responsibility," said the head of the opposition faction Serhiy Sobolev.
Opposition deputy Mykhailo Volynets was taken away from the chamber on a stretcher with a serious head injury, his colleague Volodymyr Bondarenko received a wrist injury and fellow MP Yuriy Gnatkevych was hospitalised.
Kiev prosecutors have opened an investigation and all materials collected will be sent to the general prosecutor's office, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency said.
"Everything will be investigated objectively," promised Ukraine's Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. "Legal decisions if any need be taken, will be taken by the local district prosector."
Reports said the fight started after opposition MPs blockaded themselves inside the chamber and hung banners protesting the legal action against Tymoshenko reading "Hands off Tymoshenko!" and "Stop Political Repression!"
Regions Party MPs then stormed into the chamber by breaking down the doors and were reported to have stayed in the hall overnight with the aim of ensuring security.
Former prime minister Tymoshenko, who lost a tight fight for the presidency to Yanukovych earlier this year, this week was forbidden to leave Kiev after a probe was opened against her on suspicion of abuse of power while in office.
Tymoshenko, known for her long braid of golden hair and tight-fitting designer dresses, is being probed for misspending state money Ukraine received from selling greenhouse emission quotas under the Kyoto Protocol.
She and her supporters allege she is merely being targeted for daring to oppose Yanukovych.
Yanukovych, whose Regions Party has its roots in the rough-and-tough politics of Ukraine's eastern industrial belt, expressed exasperation over the events in parliament.
"The time has come once and for all for politicians to agree and raise the level of political culture on all sides," he said in a clear bid to stay above the fray.
The president, who served prison time for robbery and assault in the Soviet Union, emphasised that he was against the use of violence in parliament.
"This problem, unfortunately, exists in our parliament and I assess it negatively," Interfax-Ukraine quoted him as saying.
Friday's session of the Rada was peaceful but the opposition deputies walked out at the start of proceedings when the parliament speaker refused to let them put candles on their desks to remember the night's events.
News site Ukrainska Pravda reported journalists were boycotting Regions Party MP Mykhailo Chechetov for lying when he told the media Thursday that there had been no brawl and the opposition MP's wounds were self-inflicted.
"The opposition hit their own heads themselves," he was quoted as saying.
Compounding the fractious atmosphere, activists from feminist movement Femen braved the winter cold to hold a topless protest outside the government headquarters against the lack of women in the cabinet.
The Ukrainian parliament is frequently the scene of scuffles and Tymoshenko supporters let off smoke bombs and hurled eggs at the speaker in a debate in April.
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