Paul D. Shinkman
U.S. News
March 31, 2014
The Ukrainian parliament reportedly is considering a bill that would allow security forces to arrest and detain local citizens for up to 30 days without formal charges or court approval, a Russian politician claimed Monday, citing the measure as just one indication that the political upheaval in Ukraine is descending into Nazi-era “Gestapo times.”
“The entire country is populated by armed militants in balaclavas,” said Sergei Zheleznyak, the vice speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, in a teleconference Monday from Moscow. “Their names are unknown … they’re outlaws and they don’t comply with the laws.”
“A majority of Ukrainians today are hostages of that situation because they are afraid of those bandits who are next to their doors,” said Zheleznyak, speaking through a translator. Any solution must come democratically, he said, but “any diplomatic procedure is not possible when only one person is having his word and convictions and on the other hand, the other guy has an assault rifle.”
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