Supporters of far-right and pro-Russian politician Călin Georgescu became violent with police forces after his candidacy was invalidated by the Central Electoral Bureau, or BEC, on Sunday night, March 9. Some threw stones, firecrackers, and bottles at security forces, while others started fires and even flipped over a car of a local news station. Several gendarmes were injured and reports were filed for 11 offenses.

The protest before the BEC headquarters, located in the heart of Bucharest’s touristic Old Town, escalated around 10:00 PM when demonstrators began forcing the gendarmerie positions. The latter were set up to protect the institution from the crowd.

Demonstrators set fire to materials in front of the National Bank building and flipped over the car of a popular TV news station. They used pyrotechnic materials, according to the police, and some set fire to chairs and tables. 

Over 500 people who participated in Sunday evening's protest in Bucharest, following the rejection of Călin Georgescu’s candidacy, were identified by police. Official sources also said that 13 gendarmes were injured and that four of them are still hospitalized. Criminal reports were filed for 11 offenses.

Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several demonstrators have already been detained and a case was initiated by prosecutors for destruction.

"As of now, over 500 people have been identified in the protest area, and based on operational footage and recordings from public spaces, those responsible for antisocial acts last night will be identified and held accountable," the Gendarmerie representatives said on Monday, March 10, cited by News.ro.

Among the violent protesters were reportedly football ultras, who ripped up pavement stones and threw them at the gendarmes, along with plastic objects and eggs.

"Damage included broken windows of businesses, destruction of street furniture and pedestrian pavement, and burning trash bins. Additionally, a vehicle belonging to a television station was damaged," police said.

The Central Electoral Bureau announced that it rejected Călin Georgescu's candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for May, because he failed “to comply with electoral procedure rules, violating the very obligation to defend democracy, which is founded on fair, honest, and impartial elections in accordance with the law.”

AUR leader George Simion, whose party is campaigning for Georgescu, claimed that the violence outside the BEC headquarters was meant to discredit the protest. “99% of people protest peacefully, except for a few guys placed there by the system," Simion said, referencing a plot against AUR and Georgescu by the ruling coalition.

However, immediately after the decision, Simon had asked his supporters to “skin alive” the BEC officials who had barred Georgescu from running. AUR co-founder Claudiu Târziu later stated on Antena 3 CNN that Simion's statement "was a slip-up."

Similarly, the mercenary Horațiu Potra, for whom an arrest warrant was issued and who is reportedly hiding in Dubai, called for a coup after rejecting Georgescu’s candidacy. Potra, who had arranged security for Georgescu and hired active gendarmes to serve as mercenaries in Africa, called on his associates "to arrest everyone" involved in invalidating Călin Georgescu's candidacy on a WhatsApp group.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Calin)