The police state that the demonstrators were arrested for refusing to comply with the court order of the District Administrative Court in Kyiv banning demonstrations on 14 October

The Report just published speaks of an increasing number of allegations concerning curtailment of freedoms and that democracy is regressing in the country. "These allegations have mostly centred on the freedom of the media, freedom of assembly and increased pressure by the law enforcement agencies for political purposes”.

The notorious events around the building of a road through Kharkiv’s Gorky Park and violent dispersal of protest against the destruction of century-old trees are to be discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Internet publication Glavnoye has published a letter from Thomas Hammerberg, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, expressing concern regarding the “dispersal of protests” over the destruction of a part of Kharkiv’s Gorky Park.

The right to be seen by the Mayor needs to be upheld in court. The Donetsk City Council is in a court battle with 21-year-old Dmytro Verzylov, the Head of the Union of Donetsk Region Deceived Depositors

Ukrainians trying to reach the opposition demonstration in Kyiv report pressure from the traffic police and heightened interest from the SBU [Security Service]

With the tree-felling in Kharkiv and methods used, Ukraine will not draw nearer to the European Union. This warning was heard by Bundestag Deputy from the Greens, Viola von Kramon

From now on any movement by students around Ukraine will be under the close surveillance of the State, nor is it only students who are endangered by new measures from the government

The Movement “Stop Censorship!” demands that the Security Service explain which international and Ukrainian laws the SBU and Prosecutor officers were guided by when they summoned blogger Oleh Shynkarenko for an interrogation and forced him to write an undertaking

The application came from the Chernivtsi City Council’s Executive Committee which asked for a ban on any protests during the visit in the centre

The traffic police have almost certainly now been used twice to deny citizens their most fundamental human rights. With local elections looming, the consequences of ignoring such violations surely do not need to be spelled out

Mr Callen expresses surprise that despite repeated assurances to UEFA, the construction of the contentious road is continuing and the media are continuing to erroneously link this with Kharkiv’s preparations for Euro-2012

Nina Karpacheva says that the information she has received suggests that there were numerous violations of civic rights with regard to protection of life and health, personal security, the right to information, freedom of views and of expression, and safety regulations

Their letter asserts that neither the police who beat and/or unlawfully detained defenders of Gorky Park nor the unidentified individuals in black with badges saying “Municipal Security” who also used force against peaceful protesters committed any offence.

Such incidents when the Mykolaiv police have blocked the exit of people heading toward protest actions have not been seen for a long time. Are we really seeing a return to 2004?

On 7 July the Dzherzhynsky District Court in Kharkiv issued three rulings over members of “Zeleny Front” [“Green Front”] detained on 5 and 6 July in Gorky Park where they were endeavouring to stop the entirely illegal felling of trees

Barbed wire is being erected along where the illegal tree felling is continuing, including, it would seem, on an area where human remains were uncovered a week ago

At present religious organizations are discriminated against since the law on freedom of conscience imposes a permission-based system of informing, 10 days in advance, of a planned religious gathering

The PACE Co-Rapporteurs believe that the authorities are using the police to obstruct peaceful acts of protest

The Director of Euro 2012 Martin Callen has addressed an official letter to the Ukrainian Government asking it to investigate the situation which has arisen around Gorky Park in Kharkiv and to inform of specific measures taken to resolve the problem