DPR: Elections in Donbass will be possible only after Kiev passes amnesty law

The Republics of Donbass demand Ukraine to implement its commitments to the Minsk-II Agreement and pass a law on amnesty. Denis Pushilin, the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) representative to the contract group for peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, DPR People’s Council Deputy Speaker, said on June 18.

”The amnesty law is essential for conducting elections in Donbass,” he said. “Otherwise, no elections are possible.” The politician recalled that the enactment was adopted yet in September of 2014, but the president has not ratified it.

There is no progress in the exchange of POWs either, he said. “Unfortunately, there is no sense in moving ahead, unless there is amnesty law,” Pushilin said. “Exchanging all for all is impossible without the amnesty law.”

The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk II agreements signed on Feb 12 by the members of the Contact Group includes “pardon and amnesty by way of enacting a law that forbids persecution and punishment of persons in relation to events that took place in particular districts of Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts of Ukraine.”