Violent Protests Erupt in Moldova

[bemildred]

Source: NYT

MOSCOW -- A protest in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, turned violent on Tuesday as anti-Communist demonstrators broke into the headquarters of the country’s parliament and the police attempted to disperse them with tear gas and water cannon. Dozens of people were reported injured.

The crowd gathered to protest the results of parliamentary elections held on Sunday. Communists won about half the votes. Opposition leaders on Tuesday accused the Communists of rigging the election and demanded a recount.

Demonstrators gathered in the center of Chisinau, shouting “We want Europe,” “We are Romanians” and “Down with Communism,” according to the Interfax news service.

Moldova was part of Romania until 1940, then was occupied by the Soviet Union until it declared independence in 1991. Independence ushered in instability and catastrophic economic conditions, and in 2001 angry citizens voted the Communist Party back into power, making it the first post-Soviet state to do so.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/europe/08moldova.html?ref=world

[thereismore]

1. Yeah, Moldova is really messed up if they voted communists back in power. nt

[BadgerKid]

2. This was apparently organized online after media blockage.

Organized Online, Students Storm Gov't. Buildings In Moldova
Posted by timothy on Tuesday April 07, @09:23AM
from the no-emoticon-for-what-I-feel dept.
< Government > < Communications > < Social Networks > < News >
An anonymous reader writes "Reacting to allegedly fraudulent election procedures, students are storming the presidency and parliament of the small eastern European country of Moldova. It is reported that they used Twitter to organize. Currently twitter and blogs are being used to spread word of what is happening since all national news websites have been blocked. If the 1989 Romanian revolution was the first to be televised, is this the first to be led by twitter and social networks?" Jamie points out this interesting presentation (from March 2008) by Ethan Zuckerman about the realities of online activism, including how governments try to constrain it.

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/07/148257