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Friday, February 3, 2017

Historical anticorruption protests in Romania go beyond borders



Fresh protests have been staged on Friday countrywide, for the fourth day in a row, with people asking for the abrogation of the ordinance amending the criminal codes. There were about 150,000 people protesting in Bucharest around 10 p.m., in front of the Government building, and another tens of thousands in tens of cities (Cluj-40,000, Sibiu-20,000, Timisoara-25,000). Digi24 estimated that there were more than 300,000 of them countrywide.


People gathered in front of the Gov’t HQs in Bucharest sang together the national anthem at 22:00 sharp. On a building nearby the image of the night was projected carrying the slogan: “At night like thieves”, hinting to the night when the Government passed the controversial the emergency ordinance.

Several protesters brought puppets featuring members of the Grindeanu Cabinet, dressed up in regimentals.

There is also an area for the media in the Victoriei Square. Journalist teams from the main foreign TV stations, press agencies and newspapers, like BBC, Associated Press or Al Jazeera were also on the scene.

Gendarmes have taken out a man who was manifesting violently from among the protesters in Victoria Square, after several peaceful protesters had notified them.

Rallies continued also abroad, in European big cities, but also in the USA. In Berlin, the crowd was singing the Romanian national anthem, while a rally was also under way in London.

Around 220,000 took to the streets in protest in the entire country on Thursday night, with 300,000 demonstrators being reported on Wednesday


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