Riot police try to destroy a tent camp installed by activists of the Movement of New Forces, the political party led by Mikheil Saakashvili, as protesters fire tires in Kiev, Ukraine early Saturday, March 3, 2018. Protesters demand President Petro Poroshenko's impeachment. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
Republished March 03, 2018 - 4:57 AM
Original Publication Date March 03, 2018 - 1:56 AM
MOSCOW - Ukrainian police and demonstrators at a tent camp clashed Saturday morning outside the parliament building in the capital, Kyiv. Police say more than 100 people were detained and that explosives were found at the camp.
The Interfax news agency quoted a top police official, Andrey Kryshchenko, saying six protesters sought medical help after the clash and four officers were injured.
The clash occurred when police arrived for an investigation related to a conflict Tuesday in which 15 police were hurt, Kryshchenko said.
Police said nine hand grenades were discovered during a search of the camp, as well as firebombs. Many of the tents were dismantled and taken away by city workers, Interfax said.
The tent camp was set up in October by supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who became a prominent opposition figure in Ukraine. Saakashvili was deported from Ukraine on Feb. 12.
The protesters are demanding the establishment of a national an anti-corruption court and the ouster of President Petro Poroshenko.
"From the first day of the Saakashvili demonstration, I, as general prosecutor, spoke of the guarantee of peaceful protest," Prosecutor-General Yuri Lutsenko posted on Facebook. But to turn the tent village ... into a hoard of extremists, weapons and explosives is taboo."
News from © The Associated Press, 2018