KIEV, Jan. 16 – President Viktor Yanukovych’s party and its allies in Parliament in a controversial move Thursday voted to approve legislation that marks the government's biggest yet attack on civil liberties and unleashes repression against protesters.

The legislation, which allows the authorities to shut independent media, deny access to internet, punish reporters, control non-government organizations and jail protesters, de-facto turns Ukraine into a Belarus-style dictatorship.

The developments underscore a serious escalation of political crisis in Ukraine that may explode into a major confrontation and street clashes between the people and the authorities.

“This is the moment of truth,” Yuriy Lutsenko, a former internal affairs minister and the leader of protests, wrote in his blog. “The adopted bills are a high security prison for those who consider themselves free people.”

The U.S. and the European Union expressed serious concerns over the developments, urging the authorities in Ukraine to respect democracy, the freedom of speech and civil liberties.

“What happened in Parliament means that the authorities are making way for a Belarus-style scenario,” Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of Penta political consultancy, said. “This is the end of Parliament in its current form. This will aggravate the crisis.”

Lutsenko called on his supporters to rise for a massive protest on January 22 and be ready to march against the government.

“At the appointed time of mobilization all Ukrainians move towards the capital. With your cars, buses, trucks, tractors – to fight for the free Ukraine,” Lutsenko said.

“All students take to the streets to fight for your European future. Kievans take to the streets to fight for your honor. Politicians take to the streets with your families, assistants, in your cars or on foot, to fight for democracy in this country.”

Opposition groups slammed the legislation as “unconstitutional” and said it had been illegally approved without adhering to laws and regulations in Ukraine.

The pro-Yanukovych lawmakers voted for the bills by show of hands as opposed to using the electronic voting system. This makes the entire procedure controversial and non-transparent because nobody has properly counted the votes.

Yanukovych has two weeks to sign the bills, but a source at his administration has told Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper that the president had signed the bills into law late Thursday.

Yanukovych’s spokeswoman was not available for comments late Thursday.

The legislation appears directed mainly at preparing the ground for action to end the street protests that have been taking place in the capital Kiev and some other cities since November.

Yanukovych's refusal at that time to sign a free trade deal with the European Union in favor of boosting ties with Ukraine's former Soviet master Russia brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets in protest.

Though numbers have dwindled since, several hundred people remain camped out on Kiev's central square of Kiev or are occupying public buildings such as City Hall. On Sunday, at least 50,000 people demonstrated against Yanukovych in Kiev.

The legislation bans any unauthorized installation of tents, stages or amplifiers in public places, on pain of a fine of up to $640 or up to 15 days in detention.

People and organizations who provide facilities or equipment for such meetings will be liable to a fine of up $1,275 or detention of up to 10 days.

Opposition politicians regularly use a stage on the square to broadcast messages of support to the protesters, and the law will clearly make such action illegal.

Other tough but vaguely-worded threats envisage jail sentences ranging from two to 15 years for offences involving stopping people entering buildings or "mass violation" of public order.

Protest 'motorcades' involving more than five vehicles, like those staged outside government residences including that of Yanukovych in recent weeks, were also banned.

The decision in Parliament, taken by a sudden show of hands that caught the opposition off-guard, followed a court ban on protests in Kiev, boosting opposition fears of an imminent police crackdown.

"The people of Ukraine have been deprived of civil rights and liberties. According to these laws, standing on the Maidan (central square) is prohibited, setting up tents is prohibited, talking about corrupt judges is prohibited.
And many other things are also banned," said boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, an opposition leader who is regarded as a potential strong challenger to Yanukovych for the presidency, Reuters reported.

"The authorities can at the same time intimidate and beat activists and confiscate the driving licenses and property of AutoMaidan activists, and ignore the demands of the citizens," Klitschko said. "That is why a change of power and the Yanukovych regime in Ukraine is our main objective."

The law would make it an offence punishable by up to 15 days' detention to wear a mask or face-covering like that adopted by many of the protesters, particularly those from the nationalist parties.

Dissemination of "extremist" and libelous information would also be banned - a clause that and seemed to be aimed at forcing the removal of political graffiti pillorying Yanukovych and his government on walls and bill-boards.

The move was sure to fuel opposition suspicions that riot police would soon move in to end two months of protests. These have widened into rallies, sometimes involving thousands of people on weekends, against sleaze and corruption in power.

The EU's ambassador to Ukraine, Jan Tombinsky, joined opposition leaders in condemning the way the law was rushed through parliament by a show of hands rather than by the customary electronic system of voting - a mechanism that opposition deputies can physically block.

"Norms should be adopted through proper procedures, otherwise the credibility of democratic institutions and of the legal system is at stake," he said in a statement.

In Washington, the State Department expressed deep concern with the measures saying it "cast serious doubt on Ukraine's commitment to democratic norms."

"A true democracy cannot function without dialogue, compromise, the right to peaceful dissent and a legislature that enjoys the people's trust," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. (tl/rt/ez)