Cav's Place

With most protesters taking it easy lately, the few calls generally referring to showing support to the person who’s on a hunger strike in front of the Bucharest National Theater for over a week and making sure at least one other person is there with him at all times, there was little point in rushing yet another Bucharest protest report by the end of the week, so it was time for another personal post and I decided to wait until Sunday to write it, just to finish the year with one of the Sunday updates that had become the norm in previous years. Of course, if there would have been some other major action announced for today, this would have been impossible, but seeing as it’s the second Sunday in a row I spend at home, after no less than 16 in a row spent protesting, there was no reason not to do it this way.

This will be quick, but I should say that I absolutely need to set aside a day at some point and do something about my story, because there’s no improvement despite the fact that I no longer have the protests as an excuse at the moment. I somehow managed to get through chapter 43 without actually writing what should have been in it and now 44 absolutely needs to include a certain event I had in mind since long before I started to actually write any of it, but I’m still merely wasting a little more time and space every night and don’t even know how to get to it from where I am, much less how to actually write the entire scene in detail. I know I said I’ll set aside a day before as well and obviously didn’t do it, but if this keeps up like this, there’s truly no point in it anymore.
An additional problem is that finally being able to make some purchases from GOG.com means I ended up with even more games I really want to start playing even though I have plenty of others started and abandoned and am quite aware that I’ll most probably do the same with the new ones as well, while the fact that MobyGames has been rolled back to the previous design means I started submitting mobyranks again, which is obviously taking some time each day. As such, while I’m no longer busy with the protests for the moment, there are other things I’d like to do before I lose even this tiny shred of enthusiasm that can be said I found once again, and writing isn’t among them.

Before ending this, I also want to mention that it’s quite unpleasant to see Eurosport no longer broadcasting ski jumping live on the main channel due to focusing on football. After that announcement, I was thinking I’ll simply shrug off my interest in the sport, but the Four Hills Tournament is taking place these days, so other methods will have to be used and then I’ll try to reach a decision about the future after it’s over.

The protest report covering these days will obviously need to focus on Saturday’s march, but before I get there I should probably mention that, while I wouldn’t at this point consider it a cause that’s properly added to the ones this movement is fighting for, a few messages were posted about Friday’s protest against absorbing the Romanian Peasant Museum into the Village Museum. The matter has been mentioned a few times since the project became known and this protest was announced once by the movement’s “official” page and by a few activists, but I can’t say I saw anything about what actually happened. However, Monday the Prime Minister announced that the whole thing was largely another result of the conflict between him and the President which was blown out of proportion, so there are no actual plans to go through with such a project at the moment, though experience tells us this certainly doesn’t mean it won’t be attempted again in the future.

December 21: On this day, back in 1989, the Revolution spread, reaching Bucharest as well. As such, several events were announced, including some protests, the most notable of which asking people to gather at University Square from 5:30 PM. Though created by another group, this event was also promoted by the known activists, yet the movement’s “official” page created a separate one as well, announcing that the barricade erected that day will be symbolically recreated, starting at 6 PM. In addition, the, in my opinion, particularly poorly-timed opening of a Rosia Montana-themed painting exhibition was announced for 7 PM.
When I reached University Square, almost exactly on time, I saw a group of people at the fountain, another across the road, in front of the Theater, and yet another in between the two, gathered around the monument. The situation changed relatively quickly, however, people starting to cross the road and gather in the middle around 5:50 PM and actually spilling into the street some ten minutes later. Since the gendarmes didn’t interfere, admitting that it was a commemorative event which did not require any notification, and the police simply acted in order to safely redirect the traffic, this was done without any incidents, unless you count the fact that a politician spotted in the area was quickly pushed away.
Once in the street, some wanted to immediately start marching towards the Government while others, including the known activists and others who might have somehow been seen as organizers of this particular event, wanted everyone to remain where we were in order to mark the events that took place 24 years before. In addition, some chanted against the Government, the President and all parties while others focused solely on the current ruling coalition, a group protesting for the separation of Church and State found itself next to a religious group carrying a large banner with a list of demands that included banning abortion and not granting any rights to sexual minorities, while the fact that a number of football fans were also present became particularly noticeable once obscene chants and loud firecrackers could be heard. Under these circumstances, though those with differing views tended to separate and some of those who were particularly bothered by certain chants or banners even left, the fact that there were no significant incidents was a pleasant surprise.
Eventually, after managing to stop a couple of other attempts, the known activists had to give in to those who wanted to start marching, so we got moving around 6:50 PM, when our numbers had probably reached around 2000. After briefly stopping again, moments later, to observe a moment of silence as a “barricade” of candles was quickly placed on the road, we reached Romana Square, where another brief stop allowed the slower participants to catch up, around 7:25 PM and arrived at Victoriei Square around 7:50 PM, being met by a huge number of gendarmes in riot gear, many also carrying shields and a small group, spotted behind all the others, even wielding guns.
The peak, which I estimate at around 4000 people, other estimates generally ranging between 3000 and 5000, was almost certainly reached while we were at Victoriei and the most notable event that took place during the time we spent there was probably the reading of a proclamation, which included a list of ten demands. Otherwise, there were chants, but no attempts to break through and no incidents with the gendarmes. Vlad even offered them candy, showing his identity card to prove that December 21 actually is his birthday and asking other protesters to eat one as well, to prove there’s nothing wrong with them, whenever one was reluctant to take any. In addition, though I’m not sure whether this happened at Victoriei or earlier, another interesting interaction with the gendarmes took place when a group of protesters wearing white vests with the word “negotiator” written on them, similar to those worn by the Gendarmerie’s negotiators, approached a group of real negotiators and asked them to join our revolution. When told that we should start it first, the protesters asked the negotiators to step aside and allow us to occupy the Government, then recited the gendarmes’ standard warning, “your action is illegal; please leave the area”, back to them when they were told that can’t be done.
Since our numbers were dropping as people were already starting to leave, and probably also in order to avoid any potential incidents that certain more troublesome protesters were eventually likely to cause, the call to get moving again came around 8:25 PM and by 8:50 PM we were at Revolution Square, in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On top of the expected line of gendarmes, this time we also saw a water cannon waiting for us, one protester climbing on its front bumper and many others gathering around in support when the gendarmes tried to remove him, which eventually led to the water cannon being pulled out of the area. Unfortunately, this held the attention of most protesters for far too long, the known activists being largely unsuccessful in gathering them closer to the Ministry for quite some time. Worse, a rather sizable group started to haltingly walk away around 9:05 PM, while around the same time the monarchists started trying to gather people closer to them in order to read their own proclamation, obviously different from the one which had been read in front of the Government.
Eventually, after a few harsher speeches directed against the Gendarmerie, mainly concerning the abuses taking place at Pungesti, we all left the area around 9:30 PM, quickly returning to University Square, where another “barricade” of candles was placed on the road. After listening to a couple more speeches and discussions and taking the last few pictures, I personally walked away around 10:05 PM, but the reports I saw state that the few dozen protesters left around 10:15 PM, when the gendarmes asked them to leave the road, initially sat down and refused to do so. They eventually agreed and the area was completely clear around 10:30 PM, but it may be said that the day’s protest only truly ended around 4 AM, when a report states that another symbolic “barricade” was briefly placed on the road by a few protesters, before being kicked away by angry drivers moments later.
Before moving on to the conclusion, I want to mention one more thing, which is related to it: Though, infuriatingly, he’s usually the one telling people to act on their own, alone or in small groups, whenever they have an idea they think may help, without asking or even telling anyone else, the fact that we wasted the evening’s potential due to a lack of organization was, oddly enough, even pointed out by Alex in his last speech of the day, after we returned to University Square, while about a meter to his left a few other protesters were trying to persuade Vlad and Claudiu that this movement needs leaders to hold the rest together and focus their energy, and that they’re most probably best suited for that position. Unfortunately, Alex being Alex, his speech quickly turned into an argument with a couple of football fans which then ended up involving other protesters as well, while Vlad and Claudiu repeated that the movement does not and should not have leaders, Vlad also adding that, even if it will eventually end up having any, he’ll most definitely continue to refuse to be one of them.
And that’s one of our biggest problems, if not the biggest. The evening could have definitely turned out far worse, but at the same time it’s obvious that its real potential was unfortunately almost completely wasted because, once again, we weren’t organized and focused, and organizing a large mass of people in motion requires, among other things, some recognized organizers, or leaders if you will. We can only go so far without a few people, picked out of those who are known to nearly all protesters and who have repeatedly proven themselves, clearly being selected to coordinate all major events, settle differences and generally direct everyone’s energy towards the goals to be achieved, one by one. It’s true that things may occasionally work out even without such a structure, but all “Occupy” or related movements have taught us that generally, and in the long term, they won’t, so how about we learn from others’ mistakes instead of repeating them?

December 22: The day was dedicated to formal ceremonies commemorating those who died during the Revolution and, while a few monarchists and some of those who disagree with peaceful protests and want to see violent action being taken against the authorities did try to ask those who agree with their respective views to gather once again, the only credible call coming from a person who is clearly involved in this movement had to do with the fact that, though nobody seemed to have been aware of it the day before, a person started a hunger strike in front of the Theater Saturday evening, to protest against the abuses taking place at Pungesti. The fact that a few protesters arrived to show solidarity with him Sunday evening apparently attracted the attention of the crowd that usually showed up in that spot throughout 2012, protesting solely against the President and supporting the current ruling coalition, which in turn resulted in something of a battle of chants similar to those seen rather frequently last year, albeit with only a few protesters on each side this time around.
Also Sunday evening, five protesters tried to visit certain politicians in order to sing a creative new version of a popular Christmas carol, adapted to the current situation. However, they seemed to largely end up singing it to the gendarmes who blocked their way. They weren’t even allowed on the street where former president Ion Iliescu lives. In the end, after singing the carol to some other gendarmes who were guarding the Government building, they said they’ll probably take a break from protesting over the next two weeks, but the idea of visiting politicians at home these days to sing creative new versions of carols has been considered since late November, so others may try as well.

After the “Black Tuesday”, it became increasingly difficult to keep track of the protests and related events and determine which ones are actually connected to this movement and which aren’t. On top of foreign officials reacting and demanding explanations, the opposition and even some unions staged protests and tried to take over those organized by this movement, steering them solely against the current ruling coalition and portraying the President as the only hope at the moment, while some known activists and regular protesters tried to return the favor and make our demands and complaints against both sides known during their events as well. For this reason, I won’t mention the protests organized by political parties and, while I will make a note of the fact that a few known activists joined a few others coming from other cities in an attempt to stage something at Victoriei Square Saturday afternoon, immediately after a political protest, I can’t say I heard much about the actual results of the attempt.

The first day that needs to be specifically mentioned during this period is Thursday, December 12, which featured a press conference that started at 2 PM and dealt with three topics, namely the proposed changes to the Mining Law, shale gas and the current situation from Pungesti, and a small but efficient action called “this is not a protest” that took place during the evening. This latter event had been somewhat announced through a few pictures and comments posted earlier during the week, but with the exception of the few who actually took part and perhaps a couple more who helped make the banners, the rest of us learned the details only after seeing the pictures showing a few protesters carrying the four banners as they walked between cars waiting at a red light or as they quickly made their way from one spot to another on the sidewalk. What I also gathered from the images is that they stopped to display the banners in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well, but only long enough to take some pictures. Whether they did the same in front of other institutions or not, I personally don’t know. (Much later, I learned that another similar “not a protest” took place the next evening as well.)
The day’s most notable event, however, wasn’t a protest and didn’t actually happen as a result of one either, but marks the fulfillment of one of the original demands. I’m referring to the fact that Daniel Barbu resigned from the position of Minister of Culture as a result of certain statements made three days before. As I already said, this has nothing to do with the protests or with this movement, the statements in question being that he was shocked by the fact that the budget for the national program to prevent and treat HIV infections is equal to half the total budget the Ministry of Culture has available for all of its programs and that he shuddered when he realized how many cultural festivals could be organized if that program wouldn’t exist anymore, but a demand being met is a demand being met and, either way, these statements only served to once again prove the kind of man he is.

The second day that needs to be mentioned is Saturday, December 14, which featured a debate starting at 11:30 AM, the topic being whether citizens should be able to initiate the procedures to dismiss their elected representatives in the Parliament, and a banner workshop that was announced as starting at 2 PM. Seeing as Sunday’s protest was meant to be the most notable reaction to the laws that were either approved or merely delayed on Tuesday, the messages displayed on the banners created on this occasion were very different from those generally seen up to that point.
A more notable development, however, once again came from outside the protest movement, the Ombudsman’s office announcing launching an investigation regarding the events that took place at Pungesti. While this investigation was not launched as a result of a specific request, Tuesday’s “occupation” most probably had a significant influence on the decision, so a few activists wanted to ensure that we will maintain the pressure and quickly launched a call for individual petitions requesting details about the status of the investigation to be submitted, even daily if possible, starting Monday. Unfortunately, though hardly unexpectedly, the matter became complicated on December 19, when the Ombudsman suddenly resigned, the fact that no plausible explanation for the gesture was offered, only “personal reasons” being invoked, leading nearly everyone to believe that this investigation was quickly becoming too much of a threat for certain interest groups to be allowed to continue.

Sixteenth Sunday, twelfth Sunday march (here’s a longer video as well, filmed from the thick of it most of the time and including some moments not seen in the other one): While the plan was to start gathering at the fountain at 4 PM, the day’s events actually started at 3 PM, when Ion Ioan, a union leader and activist, set himself on fire in front of the Government building to protest against the abuses committed by gendarmes at Pungesti after not being allowed to stage the protest he had already notified the authorities of. The gendarmes reacted immediately, but instead of calling an ambulance they held him down, beat him, then arrested him as well as another activist, Gabriel Tora, who tried to save him. Gabriel Tora was eventually released around 10:30 PM, but Ion Ioan remained in custody until Monday, when the vice-president of the Green Party, lawyer Tonel Pop, managed to persuade the court to reject the 29-day preventive arrest warrant that was initially issued.
Moving on to the main protest, once again only a small number of people arrived on time, but the new banners certainly made us much more visible once they started being displayed. A few activists from Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria and I believe also Greece were present as well, displaying more solidarity with us than we displayed with each other at times, the regular protesters and the supporters of the President and the opposition obviously having differing views on whether the protest should continue to be against both sides or focus solely on the current ruling coalition. Thankfully, these arguments didn’t lead to any significant incidents, but they were clearly noticeable and hampered the propagation of chants at least during the first part of the protest, until enough people gathered to more or less overwhelm the opposition’s supporters.
Eventually, after an unpleasant moment when Willy Schuster suddenly rushed into the empty area in front of the cameras leading chants against the press and asking for help to block their view, supposedly in order to force them to film all of the roughly 1000 people who had gathered by then instead of only that small area, several minutes passing before a few other activists who didn’t quite agree with this stance managed to calm him down somewhat, we tried to start marching towards the Government, on the sidewalk. Many were saying even since we started gathering that we’ll “go for a walk” if we’ll reach 1000 and I heard regular protesters and some known activists start mentioning this more seriously around 5:30 PM, but it was 5:50 PM when we actually got moving.
Of course, the gendarmes had already surrounded us with thick cordons by then and they weren’t going to allow us to go anywhere, so people started trying to look for other ways out after a few relatively weak attempts to break through failed. This also resulted in the protesters separating, so for a while I couldn’t follow, not to mention take pictures of, everything that was happening, though nearly all of us seemed to end up either on Victoriei Way after using the streets behind the fountain to get there or blocked again by gendarmes at the intersection between Elisabeta Boulevard and Victoriei Way.
At that point there were at least three groups, not counting a few protesters who tried to look for other ways on their own, and this obviously caused confusion, some immediately turning right to head towards the Government, others stopping at the intersection and others, after breaking through the cordon, blocking Elisabeta Boulevard as they started walking back towards University Square. The group that made this latter choice seemed to be by far the largest, but they were blocked by another cordon at 6:10 PM, just before reaching the square once again, and eventually turned back. Those who weren’t quick enough, as well as those who insisted on not using the sidewalk, however, found themselves blocked once again when they returned to the intersection with Victoriei, yet some slipped through and were quickly able to catch up to those who had turned right immediately, who hadn’t gone that much farther before being blocked as well by another line of gendarmes.
A few minutes later, those who had been blocked at the intersection with Elisabeta arrived as well, which meant that, with the exception of a few who had left to try to find other ways around the cordon, we were once again united in a single group. Then, as tensions escalated, a cordon seemed to be forming behind us as well and protesters kept looking for ways to break through and continue the march, an ambulance appeared in the distance, there were a few shouts to let it through and the gendarmes from the part of the cordon that was right in its path seemed to waver for a moment, which was all it took. It was 6:40 PM and suddenly we were through, protesters flooding forward as shoving was at times turning into punching or even trampling, some gendarmes trying to re-form a part of the cordon and therefore actively blocking the ambulance even as most protesters were sticking to the other side of the road and shouting at everyone else to let it through.
Walking the rest of the way to Victoriei Square, where the Government building is, was interesting because, for the first time, traffic was not stopped and most protesters simply walked on the street, in between cars waiting for them to pass. A few drivers honked their horns impatiently, a few even tried to keep driving, earning themselves various angry shouts, but many seemed to be waiting patiently and a fair number even cheered, shouted that they support us or honked their horns in what became known as the “rhythm of the Square”. As a result, not only that the presence of traffic didn’t cause any real incidents, but it actually prevented further clashes against the gendarmes, who didn’t follow the protesters on the road and, after blocking the sidewalk once or twice, seemed to give up completely.
Around 7:05 PM, our numbers having grown to around 2000, we reached Victoriei Square, finding a line of gendarmes partially surrounding the empty area in the middle as others were only then rushing into position on the sidewalk immediately in front of the Government building. Some activists were asking protesters to spread around, block the entire square and avoid being completely surrounded by gendarmes, but others were calling everyone forward, as close as the gendarmes allowed us to get to the Government building, and there are reports of a slight conflict between the two sides. In the end, however, most people did gather in front of the line of gendarmes, though a small number also settled in another part of the square, staying there even after a weak attempt to block the road failed.
In the larger group, the chants were becoming angrier and the gendarmes were being asked to join us or at least stand aside. When they reacted in the expected manner, doubling or even tripling the cordon, a few protesters tried to break through even as others urged restraint. As a result, a small amount of tear gas was used and the situation became even more tense, the fact that some people who seemed to be football fans made an appearance and started pushing the others forward definitely not helping matters. Later, there were reports identifying some of those who were part of this group, though perhaps not necessarily the first ones who appeared, as provocateurs who even followed protesters after they left Victoriei Square and tried to gather more information.
After a small amount of tear gas was used for the second time, the football fans lit a torch and threw it at the gendarmes. Then, among repeated calls for restraint from other protesters, somebody from behind the group threw what appeared to be a rock, which struck a gendarme’s helmet. As such, it was becoming obvious that the situation was getting out of hand and I pulled myself some distance away, being far from the only one to do so. In fact, some protesters were already leaving and eventually, as I noticed that the gendarmes were surrounding us completely, I joined such a group and made my way out at possibly the last moment, at 8:25 PM.
According to the reports I read, my assessment was correct, those who were left inside the area surrounded by gendarmes being held back for several minutes, some of them possibly even fined, before they were urged and also allowed to leave, the area clearing almost completely around 8:45 PM. Also according to some reports, a small number of protesters walked back to the fountain, where they arrived perhaps around 9:20 PM and chanted for a few more minutes before scattering. It would appear that at least some of the provocateurs followed them and tried to obtain more information from some.
The evening ended with a few activists gathering first in front of the police precinct where the four who were taken away were held and then in front of the hospital where Willy was being treated for the injuries sustained while being beaten by at least ten gendarmes after he walked through the cordon when, according to his statement, a negotiator walked away and happened to create an opening as he was asking him to join us. I’m not entirely sure I know precisely when this happened, which is why I set the moment aside and am only mentioning it now, but on top of needing stitches for the head injury clearly visible in the photo I linked to, he also ended up with a few broken fingers. Erwin Albu was also beaten yet again, though he thankfully seems to have walked away with no more than a few bruises. In addition, even a few reporters seemed to have been somewhat roughed up, one from Realitatea in front of the hospital and those from B1 at Victoriei Square.

Since covering the events that took place between December 16 and December 19 will not take long, before moving on to the conclusion and ending this post I want to do that as well, starting with the two debates took place on December 16, the first one starting at 6 PM and dealing with the dynamics of the recent protests seen in Canada, Romania, the United States and Ukraine, while the topic of the second, which started at 7:30 PM, was the Romanian Revolution, which actually began on December 16, 24 years before. In addition, there was a call to start sending greeting cards to the members of the Parliament, wishing them a happy resignation.
As for December 19, on top of the resignation I already mentioned above, I just found out that another “not a protest” apparently took place during the evening, adding a banner “not” asking people to come to Saturday’s protest, as well as one saying television stations “don’t” manipulate, to the ones also displayed the first time, a week before. Otherwise, I can’t tell you anything more about it because all I know is what you can see for yourselves in the pictures I linked to, the only way I found out that it took place at all being that a known activist shared that album.

To conclude, the ruling coalition seems increasingly desperate to push all the filth through at once, hoping that at least some of it will somehow slip past without too much of a backlash before next year’s elections will loom too close for them to dare risk such measures anymore, while the weak opposition is increasingly desperate to improve their image before those same elections by taking advantage of this and leeching on any protests they can find. As such, we must remain vigilant, maintain the pressure on both sides, prevent any other interest groups from taking over this movement, seek out and work with potential allies, no matter where they may be found, yet somehow also conserve our energy for the long battle ahead.
At the same time, considering what’s going on during the actual protests and the utter insanity found on event pages, we must also remain determined, focus on what brings us together far more than on what sets us apart, defend the movement and each other against those seeking to harm or discredit it or any one of us, get properly organized and, of course, distance ourselves from those whose actions will bring harm to our cause or to other fellow protesters. It is particularly unfortunate that this latter category also includes some who are genuinely interested in supporting a movement aiming to change this country, and perhaps even the world, for the better, but if they don’t understand the need to change their behavior, we will need to push them aside. Failure to do so will mean that the worst threat will continue to come from within.

December 9: The week started with a particularly visible protest staged Monday morning by Greenpeace, 50 activists from ten countries climbing over the wall surrounding the Parliament building and digging in the courtyard to protest against the changes to the Mining Law which were being discussed by the relevant Parliamentary Committees that day and set to be voted on by the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. When the gendarmes confiscated their tools, they even continued to dig by hand until they, as well as a journalist, were arrested and fined, being released later that same day. An activist from Canada required medical attention as a result of the gendarmes’ intervention, being later released from hospital with her hand in a cast.
Otherwise, the two events that took place that evening and, while not directly related to the matter at hand, were announced by some of the known activists were a debate about independent media and citizen journalism that started at 5 PM and a free viewing of No, starting at 7 PM. It should also be noted that, though no other protest was announced and therefore people didn’t gather there again, a large number of gendarmes were present at the University Square fountain during the evening, intimidating anyone who happened to be passing by.

December 10: With the changes to the Mining Law, which not only include most elements originally seen in the special law made for the Rosia Montana project but also ensure that they will apply to other potential projects as well, set to be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies after being passed with no real debate through the relevant Parliamentary Committees the day before and then, completely illegally, modified yet again during the night, an urgent call was made, asking people to gather in Izvor Park, at the entrance that’s across the road from the Chamber of Deputies side of the Parliament building, at 9:30 AM. Everything was done on very short notice because the information only became available particularly late, the schedule that we were aware of almost until the Committees started discussing these changes stating that the vote will only take place on December 16, so there was hardly any time to plan anything.
Under these circumstances, and considering the early hour, it was nice to see maybe some 150 people there by the time we started scattering. Some were even talking of a peak of around 200, but I couldn’t personally check because I arrived there thinking that we should all ask to be allowed inside to watch the vote from the balconies, so I was quick to add my information on the request two activists were already writing at the time, without asking for any details. Much to my surprise, I was the fourth and last to do so, though we found three others already in the lobby when we went to request access and one of them added his name and information to the list as well. Needless to say, I was completely unprepared to be part of what suddenly dawned on me was, more or less, a group of representatives of the protesters, but by then it was too late to back out, so I kept mostly quiet and followed those who seemed to know what they were doing, trying not to look quite as lost as I felt.
In the end, all of that served no purpose because, despite the fact that December 10 is Human Rights Day, they refused to allow us in. We even tried to gain entrance as guests of a member of the Parliament, from PDL, who arrived to help us after Remus Cernea, who was the activists’ first choice, couldn’t be reached, but he was unable to reach the Secretary General either and eventually had to leave us, though he did take two banners and displayed one when he took the stand to speak. He even sent an aide with an invitation from the PDL group, so not only from a single member of the Parliament, but that was refused as well. In the end, Remus, who had also arrived by then, left his own aide with us and went to personally look for the Secretary General, but that didn’t do us much good either because, while he somehow obtained access for a single person, the activist who went inside was stonewalled for another two hours, being told that no staff member was available to escort her, before giving up and going home. The official explanation for all of it was that special security measures were in place because some “gold producers” were in the building, and we also found out that PSD, which is the main ruling party, had reserved all balcony seats the day before, so, on paper, there was no room for any audience, though nobody was actually sitting in those seats.
Eventually, shortly after 11 AM, we left, obviously without the one person who had supposedly obtained permission to go in. Once outside, we found a few more activists waiting for us and wondering what to do next, the first suggestion being to follow the example of the protesters from Cluj, who had occupied the headquarters of PSD, PNL and PDL that morning, and at least occupy the headquarters of PSD as well. However, that would have been an illegal action that’d have served no real purpose, so we eventually returned to the park entrance without having reached a decision. As a positive aspect, having spent all that time away from the other protesters did spare us from being carded and possibly fined, since the gendarmes once again ignored the fact that protests outside public institutions require no notification, but at the same time it caused us to miss some rather creative caroling.
As I started taking some pictures, the others remained some distance away from the larger group and, I imagine, continued to debate, so by the time I looked for them again the decision had been made to occupy the Ombudsman’s office instead, since the Ombudsman and the President can challenge a law adopted by the Parliament at the Constitutional Court. On top of the changes to the Mining Law, while trying to gain entrance we had also found out that the law legalizing lobbying and the poorly written Amnesty Law, which had obviously been meant to ensure that certain important individuals found guilty of white-collar crimes will walk free but, in its current form, would have resulted in thousands of criminals being released, were on the day’s schedule as well, so the plan was to remain there until they will be voted on and, if approved, to demand such a challenge.
What happened next was probably the first real proof that we can act in an organized manner as well, since the message was slowly and carefully spread among the protesters and people started trickling out in small groups, apparently heading in different directions. There were some reasons for concern when some 20 or 30 protesters walked away together, prompting a few gendarmes to follow them, but the fact that the rest of us waited a few minutes before leaving as well and made sure not to repeat their mistake seemed to have fooled them, so there were no problems on the way and, after some quick calls, we suddenly regrouped in front of the Ombudsman’s office, about 100 of us walking in before the stunned guards reacted and locked the door behind us. Some 60 or 70 others, as well as possibly more press than we saw during the big marches at the start of this campaign, eventually gathered outside as well, after word broke out. Unfortunately, I heard that those who arrived too late to join us inside were once again carded and possibly also fined. We weren’t.
Since the offices are upstairs and the guards managed to react just in time to prevent us from simply walking there, we spread out and waited for someone to come talk to us, some moving into the meeting room and getting to work on writing a statement to be released, though agreeing on exactly what to say wasn’t easy. Once someone did come, we made our demands known and were told that at the moment they can’t be met. As such, the next request was for the Ombudsman to come down himself and talk to us, but that was also refused, being instead told that no more than two or three representatives will be received in his office. Since that offer was unacceptable for us, we refused as well and settled in to wait.
Some activists meant to block the doors with furniture and have everyone sit down to block gendarmes from entering, but eventually reason prevailed and, while the discontent was obvious whenever they made an appearance, they were allowed to walk in and out, as were the few people who actually had an audience scheduled that day. The only moment when we did block access was when several gendarmes claimed to want to take something from the back of the waiting room, which made us think they simply wanted to get men behind us as well and prompted a call to sit down and link arms which was immediately heeded. In my opinion, the shouts of “Gandhi” and “Mandela” were rather misplaced at that moment, but they were definitely effective and the gendarmes quickly gave up, some other staff members later arriving to take away a computer and being readily allowed to do so.
Over the few hours we spent there, that feeling that we can be organized definitely went away, seeing as there were plenty of arguments, a few degenerating into shouting matches, either when some known activists insisted on some completely dumb ideas or when some other protesters refused to accept being told what to do and meant to go against a plan just because they weren’t asked nicely enough or given enough time to make their own decision, even if they didn’t actually disagree with the plan itself. On the other hand, the support we had from outside made itself known in the form of water bottles, coffee, oranges, bananas, bagels and pastries which were being handed to us through the window after some activists said we should be prepared to spend the night there. I didn’t personally touch anything, but there was so much food that some of it wasn’t even brought in, being left at the window, and not all that was brought in was eaten, even though at some point at least one worker from there simply sat down at the desk a part of the food was placed on and dug in.
The worst problem, however, was that the bathroom was upstairs as well and we weren’t allowed to use it. If not for this fact, there would have been next to no tensions between us and the guards or the lawyers, despite exchanging press releases by reading them out the window at one point, but as time wore on this one issue became increasingly pressing and resulted in increasingly heated one-sided arguments with an almost completely silent guard. We would have even accepted to only be allowed access one by one and accompanied by guards, like prisoners, and said so early on, then specific requests were made for one person with a handicap, a pregnant woman and an old man, but nothing worked. Their strategy, unfortunately, did, seeing as several people walked out when they couldn’t hold it in anymore, obviously not being allowed back in once they were done, and a few more heated arguments broke out among us regarding the best way to handle the matter.
Fortunately, the office was being renovated at the time, which offered not only an empty room where people could go if they wanted to get some more air or even to make a banner, this latter activity incidentally resulting in a brief moment of panic when somebody thought that the smell of spray paint was in fact tear gas and within seconds the windows were shut and most of us were sitting down and covering our faces, but also the materials to create a makeshift toilet. That in turn caused other arguments, some people wanting to put the piss in bottles and pass it out the window, to be taken away by some of those who were outside, and others being concerned about the image problem that would create, with so many cameras there, so I was under the impression that no agreement to actually use that “toilet” had been reached, but after leaving I learned that several people did their business in it after all.
Either way, after a few hours we learned that voting on the Amnesty Law and on the law legalizing lobbying was rescheduled for a later date and the changes to the Mining Law were, somewhat surprisingly, not approved. The result of the vote was 160 to 105, with 22 abstentions, but such a law can only pass if more than half of the total number of deputies, or more exactly at least 205, vote in favor, and after an extended lunch break during which I’m sure the implications of our action were discussed thoroughly, many didn’t vote at all. As such, we suddenly found ourselves losing the original reason we had to be there and that led to more debates, some wanting to stay in order to bring up the matter of Pungesti as well. Most, however, wanted to leave, especially since at that point we had at most stretched some laws, without truly breaking them, but things would have changed if we’d have remained there past the end of the working hours, therefore this was the decision in the end, although people couldn’t agree on where to go next either.
Before walking out, a call was made to put things back where we found them as much as possible, with the exception of the bucket of piss, which was left for those who forced us to resort to such a measure to deal with. Then, linking arms to reduce the risk of any one of us being pulled away from the group and arrested, we walked out, joined those who had been waiting outside and, after determining that it was probably safe to do so, started marching towards University Square, stopping in front of the Theater because the area around the fountain was filled with gendarmes waiting for us. Once there, after a few more minutes of protesting, people started scattering in small groups, many still looking rather warily at the gendarmes. There was a message shared by one or two activists later, asking people to return there at 7 PM, but when I checked the webcam overlooking the area I only saw a few and not even those seemed to stay for long.
In the end, the day was a small victory for us, both because we proved that we can be organized and efficient if we truly want to and, of course, because those changes would have doubtlessly been approved without this protest, though the President of the Chamber of Deputies immediately announced that he won’t accept this vote as a rejection, so they’ll find a way to repeat it at a later date. However, even that small victory is overshadowed by the fact that, taking advantage of how focused we all were on this one and of knowing that we had only learned of the Amnesty Law and of the one legalizing lobbying while we were trying to gain access into the Parliament, a few other deeply disturbing laws were passed that day, which quickly became known as the “Black Tuesday” because of this.
While I will not go into detail and won’t even claim to fully grasp all the details of these laws, before the end of this post I want to mention that they were also written during the night, without being made public before, were voted on without debate and essentially grant the President, members of the Parliament, mayors and, interestingly, also lawyers immunity from bribery, abuse of office or conflict of interest charges. In addition, it’s my understanding that punishments for some related white-collar crimes that cause losses to the state have been lowered, those found guilty of causing losses of up to €500000 not even facing prison if they return the money. On the other hand, after being decriminalized in 2006, insult and slander are once again crimes, which is a terrible blow to free speech and to the free press, especially considering the fact that the definition of slander doesn’t specify that the accusations need to be false in order to count as such.

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!