Ukraine: justice minister threatens with state of emergency

Ukraine’s Justice Minister Olena Lukash on Jan. 27 warned she could call for a state of emergency after radical protesters seized her ministry in the centre of Kiev.

Lukash, who is a participant in negotiations between the opposition and President Viktor Yanukovych aimed at finding a solution to the standoff, told Ukrainian television she would ask for the talks to be broken off if the building was not freed.

Dozens of radical protesters had forced their way into the ministry late Jan. 27 past only a handful of guards who offered no resistance. More protesters then rapidly came to the scene to build a barricade outside several metres high using sandbags filled with snow and rubbish containers, an AFP correspondent said.