As Ukraine tries to move forward in rebuilding its government, acting leaders have called for the arrest of ousted President Viktor Yanukovich.
From the Associated Press via ABC News:
Ukraine’s acting government issued an arrest warrant Monday for President Viktor Yanukovych, accusing him of mass crimes against the protesters who stood up for months against his rule. Russia sharply questioned its authority, calling it an “armed mutiny.”
Yanukovych himself has reportedly fled to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a pro-Russian area in Ukraine.
Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial, after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and family and cracked down on protesters. Anger boiled over last week after government snipers killed scores of protesters in the bloodiest violence in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history.
This news follows a chaotic weekend of developments that included the Ukrainian Parliament’s vote to remove Yanukovich from office, as well as hold new elections on May 25th.
Yanukovich has since fled the capital city, his definitive whereabouts still unknown. But before disappearing, he strongly rejected parliament’s recent actions.
From CNN:
In his [Yanukovich’s] last known public act, he delivered a televised speech Saturday from Kharkiv in which he rejected Parliament’s ouster and vowed to fight.”I don’t plan to leave the country. I don’t plan to resign. I am the legitimate President,” he said Saturday in a televised broadcast.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s parliament named its speaker, Oleksander Turchinov, to serve as acting president.
Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev meanwhile contends that the new acting government in Ukraine is not legitimate, reports The Guardian.
(Featured image: CNN video)
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