Cav's Place

After the thirteenth and fourteenth Sundays, a fifteenth Sunday protest seemed unlikely, and the fact that many of the known activists were leaving for Pungesti over the course of the week made them unsure about announcing any weekend events here even after the December 2 protest. However, due to the worsening situation at Pungesti, not only that this fifteenth Sunday protest was planned, but another was announced for Saturday as well, in fact several events being created, some with different start times but all, or nearly all, of them asking people to gather at University Square and show solidarity with the people of Pungesti and with those who traveled there from all over the country to support them. It was clear that the situation will degenerate and it actually did so as of Saturday, which gave those of us left here all the more reason to attend and show those people that they are not alone.

Saturday, December 7: Considering the multiple events created and the changing details of the “official” one, it was unclear when the protest was supposed to start, the late call to gather at 3 PM catching many by surprise. However, seeing as most are usually one or two hours late anyway, this didn’t make that much of a difference in practical terms. What did change, on the other hand, was the fact that this time around the gendarmes were there in significant numbers from the beginning and they started carding people even without giving any warnings first, which obviously served only to escalate the tensions and even led to some scuffles.
After those scuffles, the gendarmes stopped carding and things settled down somewhat, so the protest was, for lack of a better term, normal for a while, until an attempt was made to start marching, around 5:30 PM. We didn’t try to block the road, simply meaning to march on the sidewalk, apparently towards the Government, but the gendarmes quickly stopped us and wouldn’t allow us to continue, at least not as a single group, which led to even more tense moments. People who looked for ways to slip past the cordon and did so quietly and either alone or in very small groups were able to get through, but those of us who managed this in time were far too few to be able to go anywhere and do anything else, so we stuck around until things settled down somewhat yet again, the protesters returning to the fountain and chanting rather calmly as the gendarmes surrounded them.
At that point it was absolutely clear that nothing else will happen that evening and some of those who had slipped past the cordon even went home, the others slowly making their way back to rejoin the rest at the fountain, where the protest continued roughly on the same note until around 7:15 PM. At that point, the gendarmes suddenly started carding people once again, which led to most protesters, myself included, leaving quickly, though a small number were still there at 8 PM. I’m not entirely sure when the last ones left, but the area was empty at 9 PM, when I checked the webcam overlooking it.
With the exception of some sheets of paper saying “Solidarity with Pungesti” that someone brought, there were very few signs, which also meant few reasons to take pictures, and at the peak we were probably around 250, possibly up to 300 at the very most, which number may have included a few people who were attending the protest against killing stray dogs, which was taking place across the road and which the gendarmes didn’t seem to have any problem with. I haven’t personally seen them cross the road to join us, but there are reports that some of them did and I definitely wouldn’t find it in any way surprising, seeing as they have supported us all along. Unfortunately, plenty of people from our group have a particularly poor opinion of them and don’t want to be associated with them or with their cause in any way, which only goes to once again show how few environmentalists are left among us, seeing as anyone who cares for the environment should also care for animal rights and welfare.

Fifteenth Sunday: The situation at Pungesti continued to worsen, special security measures were in place, the protesters’ camp was taken down, after dark people were even dragged out of houses, beaten and arrested, the known activists being targeted in particular, and early in the morning Chevron announced restarting work, after suspending it for less than a day. As such, we had every reason to go out again and this time around some of the known activists were going to be there as well, after leaving Pungesti just to take part in this protest, even after being taken away by gendarmes, possibly beaten, and only released after several hours the night before.
Still, even though there was far less confusion and the protest was clearly announced as starting at 4 PM, only a few protesters were there on time, being outnumbered and carded by gendarmes, who were telling them to leave. Even photographers were being carded and intimidated, people who stopped to watch were told to keep moving and the gendarmes were generally more aggressive than before, clearly attempting to keep the number of protesters from increasing. It should also be noted that negotiators only appeared once more people did gather despite their colleagues’ efforts, so there was nobody to discuss anything with at first.
The situation continued to be tense even after more known activists arrived and the gendarmes seemed to take a step back, no longer carding the “main” group of protesters but surrounding them, making sure none ended up behind their lines and continuing to try to keep other people away. It was clear that something was going to happen and it wasn’t long before an incident took place, people apparently accusing gendarmes of hitting a protester, but I was involved in a talk between a few protesters and a negotiator at the time and couldn’t personally figure out exactly what happened after rushing to the scene.
In fact, I actually spent nearly all the time near one negotiator or another until 7 PM, when just because I was moving from one to the other, spotting a potentially interesting discussion, I completely missed the fact that an attempt to start marching was made, once again on the sidewalk, and therefore found myself largely alone and carded as well, though I was told I won’t be fined. After that, though the gendarmes once again stopped the group from going anywhere, I had no problem slipping past the cordon yet again and a few others did the same before a larger group dumbly tried to use the same route we had been using, which obviously made the gendarmes notice what was going on and block that area as well.
This time around, it was no longer possible for the few of us who had made it through to stay close, because the gendarmes made multiple cordons, kept increasing the distance between them and also sent squads to card anyone standing nearby. A couple of protesters took advantage of the situation to go to the nearby Christmas fair and hold up signs there, but otherwise we, as well as many passersby, were simply being chased away, pushed farther and farther from those who had returned to the fountain after it was obvious that they had no chance of getting through.
Eventually, as it became impossible to stay anywhere near the actual protest if you weren’t among those already surrounded by gendarmes, I walked all around the area, checking to see what routes were still open and how much the gendarmes still held in reserve, meeting with a few others who seemed to be doing the same thing and eventually leaving, along with a few others, just before 8 PM. Quite frankly, at that moment it appeared that the protest was about to end and, although even people who are normally quite calm were obviously angered by the gendarmes’ behavior, nothing indicated that the protesters were just about to try breaking through the cordons.
That was exactly what happened, however, and that offered some gendarmes the perfect opportunity to act on their frustration as well, reports indicating four protesters arrested and three being taken to hospital, though far more came out of there bruised and in pain. Pretty much all I know about those moments can also be seen in the video I linked to, so I’m not going to describe what happened because I’m not exactly sure myself, though I do want to add that, while accusing those who jumped at the chance to hit and arrest protesters, some known activists made a point of thanking a few gendarmes who truly seemed to try to calm things down and help those in need.
I should also say that, though people did bring far more signs and banners this time around, which also gave me a reason to take a few more pictures, the numbers were, oddly enough, nearly identical to those seen the day before. Seeing as, without even counting the known activists, I saw some people who clearly hadn’t been there Saturday, some of them suddenly taking part again after appearing to have given up on this movement some time ago, that certainly makes me wonder who were those who decided not to return on Sunday despite taking part in Saturday’s protest and, more importantly, what were the reasons behind this decision.

As a conclusion for both days, I’ll say it’s clear that the orders have changed once again, gendarmes being told to end these protests one way or another, which only means we truly are bothering somebody, possibly even more than we think, considering how few of us still participate. This should make us even more determined and united, but unfortunately what I see is more and more infighting, not to mention a clear refusal to work together with other groups that we may share at least some goals with. As such, if this movement dies out, if we do not manage to achieve what we set out to achieve, it won’t be because others have succeeded in stopping us. If that happens, it will be our failure and ours alone.
At the same time, a change of strategy is definitely needed. Our real opponents have changed theirs, the gendarmes have been ordered to do the same, and determination alone won’t get us too far anymore. As much as so many loathe the idea, we need to get organized, we need planning, proper strategies and, while people do need to think and act on their own when they see something that can be done on the spot, we also need leaders. Not the sort of leaders to place on a pedestal or follow blindly, but we need to know who clarifies matters when disagreements can’t be quickly settled and who to look to when we need a quick solution to a problem. We can’t afford to wait and hope for things to settle in place on their own anymore, and we most definitely can’t afford to keep pulling in different directions!