Massive protests in Romania after Government’s changes to the criminal law

Romanians have started gathering again in Bucharest’s Victoriei Square and in other big cities to protest against the Government’s decision to change the criminal law via emergency ordinance on Tuesday evening. Story updates, photo gallery and live text here --> Largest street protest in 25 years takes place in Romania Some 12,000 people protested in Bucharest and thousands also went to the streets in Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Timisoara, and other big cities on Tuesday night, until 2:00 AM. Some 2-3,000 people gathered in front of the Government’s building on Wednesday morning and remained in front there for most of the day. After 17:00, hundreds of protesters started to pour again into the Victoriei Square. The number of people in the square reached some 15,000 at 19:00, according to Digi24.ro estimates. Traffic in the square was closed. The crowd will likely continue to grow, as more people join the protests. The protests are aired live on Facebook:

Other big protests are also organized in Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, and other big cities. So far, the protests have been peaceful. Gendarmes and special forces have been mobilized to protect the Government’s headquarters in Bucharest and prevent the protesters for getting into the building. However, neither Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu nor other officials have come to the Government’s headquarters today. In fact, Grindeanu and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea cancelled all public appearances on Wednesday. Romanian Govt.’s ordinance decriminalizes major corruption offences Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy to notify Constitutional Court about conflict with the Govt. Romania’s opposition parties plan to file no-confidence motion against Govt. on justice ordinance