Ukraine releases all detained protesters

The Ukrainian police have released all those arrested during recent anti-government protests as part of efforts to end the unrest, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said here Friday. "Police detained 234 people, and today none of them is in custody," Pshonka told a press conference. He said that the Prosecutor General's Office will close criminal cases against the released protesters if other protesters abandon by next Monday the administrative buildings they have seized. They will not have any criminal records for the arrest if their peers meet the condition, Pshonka added. In a bid to end the nearly three-month-old unrest, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Jan. 31 signed into law a bill that grants amnesty to all detained protesters. Under the law, the police will free all protesters arrested during demonstrations since Nov. 21, only if other protesters leave by Feb. 17 the buildings they have seized. To back the country's European integration, massive protests have been taking place nationwide since November. The rallies turned violent on Jan. 19 when radical activists attacked riot police with fireworks and petrol bombs. The unrest has so far killed at least four people and injured hundreds of others, including police officers.