烏克蘭警方驅散示威者 和談前景不樂觀

Amid news that embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych would support a roundtable with opposition leaders to negotiate an end to a political stalemate here, riot police pushed protesters out of the government block, where they barricaded administrative buildings.

Although there were only minor conflicts reported, Dec. 9 was psychologically exhausting for protesters who spent the day alert and fearing attacks. But major physical crackdowns took place in the offices of Batkivshchyna, the biggest political party, and several media outlets. Armed with automatic rifles, police confiscated servers from Batkivshchyna offices, claiming that the move was backed by a court order.

Officials had given protesters occupying central government buildings until today to evacuate or face crackdowns. But by nightfall protesters remained camped inside the Kyiv city hall and Trade Union buildings.

Law enforcement did manage to regain a substantial amount of ground in the government district of the city, dismantling many tents and barricades with barbed wire that were set up over the past week by protesters, and it was done without having to use much physical force.

Warnings that police had been given orders to remove protesters from key locations around central Independence Square, where several thousands have gathered in the past three weeks, came all day. But very few clashes actually happened. Sporadic scuffles were reported at various times, but no serious injuries.

Members of Batkivschyna, the party led by jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose case the West considers to be political, as well as politician Arseniy Yatseniuk, reported that unknown men in black uniforms and masks had ransacked their Kyiv base and taken their computer servers.

"They've turned the server room into a mess… Searches are under way and the doors of the Batkivschyna Party's office are being broken down," Yatseniuk said at a briefing. "No parliamentarians are let into the office. All the equipment has been damaged.”

The country’s Interior Ministry said a court, due to two criminal cases that involve alleged fraud and abuse of office, sanctioned the attack on Batkivshchyna’s office. They said a group of citizens reported to the police that a company, located on 19-B Turivska (an address close to Batkivshchyna offices) allegedly illegally seized computer equipment worth Hr 350,000, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. Moreover, they complained that officials from this company abused their authority.

During the search, computer equipment and documents were confiscated as evidence in a criminal investigation, according to Interior Ministry officials.

Police actions sparked outrage among protesters and the opposition, diminishing the chances for a presidential roundtable to succeed in finding a solution out of the current gridlock. Representatives of the opposition said that they would not even consider negotiations until the government resigns, the police officers responsible for violent crackdowns on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 are punished and students and activists arrested after those clashes are allowed to go free.

The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton was scheduled to visit Ukraine on Dec. 10 to encourage the two sides to seek compromise. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was also set to visit, but by the end of Monday it was not clear when.上月，烏克蘭政府決定暫停與歐盟簽署聯繫國協定後，國內爆發大規模抗議示威活動。烏克蘭當局12月9日對佔領政府街區的示威者進行清場。警方當天也搜查了一處反對黨總部。

***警方收復“失地”

本月8日起，應烏克蘭反對黨祖國黨議會黨團領導人亞採紐克的號召，示威者封鎖位於首都基輔的總統府、議會和政府所在街區。9日，烏克蘭警方啓動清場行動，準備收復“失地”。

“儘管只發生了幾起小衝突，但對於時刻保持高度警惕、擔心遭襲的示威者而言，12月9日仍舊是身心俱疲的一天。”《基輔郵報》報道稱，當局已發出警告，要求示威者9日撤離政府街區，然而直至夜幕降臨，示威者在基輔市政廳和工會搭建的帳篷仍未拆除。

在基輔獨立廣場，9日全天，要求示威者“請速撤離”的警告聲不絕於耳。嚴寒天氣之下，部分示威者選擇繼續堅守，但還是擔心防暴警察清場。警方9日的清場行動最終取得一定成效，“在沒有過多使用武力的情況下，成功收復大片被示威者佔領的政府街區”。

反對派領袖、烏克蘭著名運動員、世界拳擊理事會（WBC）重量級拳王維塔利•克利奇科指出，“我們能預見到和平示威者被警方驅散。假若在此過程中發生流血衝突，這筆血債將由下達命令的人——（總統）亞努科維奇來償還。 ”

***搜查反對黨總部

烏克蘭當局“溫和”應對示威者，但對反對黨似乎毫不手軟。9日，手持自動步槍的警察突擊搜查祖國黨基輔總部辦公室，搬走多臺計算機服務器。警方宣稱是按法庭命令行事。

亞採紐克說：“他們把機房翻得一團糟……把辦公室的門都被砸壞了，還禁止所有議員進入辦公室，破壞了所有設備。”

對此，烏克蘭內政部迴應稱，由於涉及兩起詐騙和濫用職權的刑事案件，法庭批准搜查祖國黨基輔總部辦公室，並沒收計算機設備和資料作爲刑事調查證據。

據當地媒體報道，此前烏克蘭警方收到羣衆舉報，稱位於祖國黨基輔總部附近的一家公司非法扣押一批價值不菲的計算機設備，並指責公司領導濫用職權。

***和平解決危機可能性降低

分析人士認爲，烏克蘭警方的清場行動激起示威者和反對派的怒火，與此同時，通過總統圓桌會談來解決當前僵局的可能性也隨之降低。

反對派代表已明確表明，除非亞努科維奇政府辭職、11月30日和12月1日暴力鎮壓示威的警察被繩之以法以及被捕示威者獲釋，否則拒絕談判。

此外，歐盟外交與安全政策高級代表凱瑟琳•阿什頓將與當地時間10日前往烏克蘭，助烏克蘭走出政治危機。而美國助理國務卿維多利亞•紐蘭也計劃訪烏，但具體時間尚未確定。