Calls grow for release of Yulia Tymoshenko as petitions approach 100,000 on White House website

After successfully meeting the threshold to elicit a response for a petition asking US President Barack Obama to impose visa and financial sanctions against President Viktor Yanukovych, a new application for action is circulating. Begun on 29 November, the online petition asks the US leader to support the peaceful overthrow of the Ukrainian government. Launched on petitions.whitehouse.gov, it has already received around 48,000 online signatures.

Other petitions were started in parallel also asking the U.S. government to impose sanctions against the Yanukovych administration and prevent forceful crackdowns. Some were started on 30 November after the Ukrainian police used force to disperse demonstrators in Kyiv, using truncheons and physical violence, sending dozens to the hospital. They have already gathered from 1,500 to 8,000 signatures online.

The US Embassy and State Department have already officially condemned the  30 November police violence. In a statement posted on its website the same day the embassy said: “We urge the government of Ukraine to respect the rights of civil society and the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, which are fundamental to the democratic values that are the bedrock of our strategic partnership. We support the rights of citizens to air their views through an open and free media and through non-violent rallies.”

European officials were also outraged. "The use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Ukraine is simply unacceptable," European Parliament President Martin Schulz tweeted.

Meanwhile, MEP and Eastern Partnership vice chairman Jacek Saryusz-Wolski shared in his twitter a link to another petition of Ukrainians asking for sanctions against Ukrainian politicians and oligarchs.

As another major demonstration started on 12 January at noon, US and EU ambassadors have asked the Interior Ministry to avoid the use of force and to ensure security at the event.

“[Concerning]  the demonstration scheduled to take place on Sunday at 12:00, we called on the Ministry of the Interior to make all efforts to avoid escalations, refrain from excessive use of force and to effectively protect the security and the freedom of peaceful assembly of all citizens,” the ambassadors said.