Another anti-pardon protest announced on Sunday in Bucharest

A new protest against the draft emergency ordinance on pardon and on amending the criminal codes has been announced on Facebook for Sunday downtown Bucharest, in University Square.

The organisers say the protesters are expected at 17.00h and then march on as of 18.00h.

A protest on Wednesday is also considered, depending on the decisions taken by the government sitting.

“We will take to the streets on Wednesday if the minister does not take into account the street’s demands, of organisations and institutions. The issues we said are not negotiable remain nonnegotiable, irrespective of the way they choose to act on Wednesday. In Bucharest 50,000 people stated clearly they do not want pardon and amnesty. We don’t want the government’s resignation, we want it to keep to its promises for which he was elected, not to promote aberrant laws to advantage several persons. If it chooses, however, to promote the law… then we will peacefully get the government resignation as well,” the event’s Facebook page reads.

More than 45,000 people protested Sunday evening in Bucharest and tens of thousands countrywide against the two draft emergency ordinances, the largest protests in Romania since 1990. It was the second weekend in a row when thousands protested against the two draft bills, following an announcement placed on Facebook.

Several NGOs requested on Monday, during the debate organised by the Justice Ministry on the two draft ordinances, that the drafts are discussed in parliament after conducting impact studies and after reanalysing the cases considered for pardon.

At the end of the debate, the Justice Ministry said he does not know what formula would be adopted in order to promote the two drafts, either a draft bill in parliament or assuming the government responsibility, saying the last option is also an opportunity for debates.