Romanian Diaspora Plan Corruption Protest Despite Ban

Several Romanian diaspora groups that have called for a large anti-government demonstration on August 10 vowed on Thursday to go ahead with the rally after Bucharest City Hall denied them a permit.

The organizers from the Federation of Romanians Everywhere, a Brussels-based umbrella organization that gathers Romanian NGOs in several European countries, said the response of the Social Democrat-dominated City Hall came on Wednesday night, 33 days after they submitted the request for the rally.

The rejection was signed by a deputy mayor who said the demonstration cannot take place as the law bans public gatherings that are not "peaceful, civilized and affect public transport or the functioning of public institutions".

Activists have been disrupting traffic in cities across the country, including the capital, Bucharest, by continuously crossing the streets using pedestrian crossings in crowded areas.

Despite the ban, organizers of the August 10 protest, on a Facebook page dedicated to the event, called for protesters to show up anyway.

"We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves, we know what we have to do, we've learned ... how to get a protest authorization since 1989. You never escape what you fear!" the post read.

A representative of the Federation of Romanians Everywhere, Florin Tira, told Radio France International in Bucharest that while the NGO would no longer officially organize the protest, he and others would personally "visit" Bucharest on August 10.

"I saw many people on diaspora groups [and] many people I know are saying that they intend to 'visit' Bucharest [on August 10]," he added.

Tira said that the diaspora federation wanted the resignations of Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea and of the government and,...