KIEV, Jan. 17 - Transparency International Ukraine has criticized the law introducing amendments to the law on the judicial system and the status of judges and procedural laws on additional measures on the safety of citizens, which were passed by Parliament on Thursday and signed by President Viktor Yanukovych the following day.

"This law, if signed by President Viktor Yanukovych, will suppress any display of civic resistance in Ukraine, start repression, and turn Ukraine into a dictatorship," the group said.