Unrest continues in Romania as crowds gather downtown Bucharest for fourth day of protests
Over 100 people gathered downtown Romanian capital Bucharest on Monday (January 16) at noon, marking the fourth day of protests in a row. Several police cars secured the area, but protesters have so far refrained from violence. They are demanding the dismissal of Romanian president Traian Basescu and of the Government led by Emil Boc.
Most of the protesters took part in the 1989 revolution and are now demanding pensions awarded for their part in the uprising, which have recently been cut.
WEBCAM UNIVERSITATE SQUARE IN BUCHAREST HERE.
UPDATE 20:45 Over 400 students from Bucharest are heading over to the Universitatii square, to join the existing protesters. Students attempted to join the protest on Sunday evening too (January 15), but the gendarmes did not allow them access to downtown Bucharest, where protest had already escalated into violence. Meanwhile, five more people were taken into the police custody in Universitatii square; some of them were carrying knives. The number of protesters downtown Bucharest reached around 900.
UPDATE 20:30: Gendarmes started to comb out suspect protesters. Nine people were taken into police custody, one of them for drug possession, the others for holding firecrackers.
UPDATE: over 500 people gathered in Universitate square in Bucharest by 16:00 on Monday.
- to be updated-