BUCHAREST, Romania — Some 10,000 people marched through Romania's capital and other cities on Sunday to protest a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners, a move critics said would set back anti-corruption efforts.

Protesters massed in Bucharest's University Square called the ruling Social Democratic Party "the red plague." They later marched to Victory Square, where the government has its main offices.

Premier Sorin Grindeanu has requested an emergency ordinance allowing the government to pardon prisoners to ease prison overcrowding. On Sunday, he said the protests had been "politicized" and criticized President Klaus Iohannis, who took part in a similar protest a week ago.

Critics say the proposal would benefit party allies convicted of corruption. Romania's top prosecutor has criticized the plan.

It would primarily affect people serving sentences of less than five years, except those convicted of sexual or violent crimes.

Prisoners over age 60, pregnant women and inmates with young children would see their sentences halved regardless of the charges on which they were convicted.

According to a draft of the proposal, the government also intends to decriminalize official misconduct that involves financial damage valued at less than 200,000 lei ($47,800.)

The government says its proposal would lead to the release of 2,500 prisoners. Prison authorities estimate 3,700 would be freed.

Along with Bucharest, protests were held in the Cluj, Timisoara and more than a dozen cities around Romania. </s> BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Thousands of people marched through Romania's capital and other cities to protest a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners.

Protesters massed in Bucharest's University Square on Sunday said the move would set back anti-corruption efforts in Romania and called the ruling Social Democratic Party "the red plague."

Premier Sorin Grindeanu has requested an emergency ordinance allowing the government to pardon prisoners to ease prison overcrowding.

Critics say the proposal would benefit party allies convicted of corruption. Romania's top prosecutor has criticized the plan.

It would primarily affect people serving sentences of less than five years, except those convicted of sexual or violent crimes.

Prisoners over age 60, pregnant women and inmates with young children would see their sentences halved regardless of the charges on which they were convicted. </s> Thousands of people marched through the Romanian capital of Bucharest and other cities to protest government plans to pardon corrupt politicians and decriminalize other offenses.

Protesters gathered in Bucharest's University Square on January 29, calling the ruling Social Democratic Party "the red plague," the Associated Press reported. They marched on to Victory Square, the site of many of the government’s main offices.

News reports put the total number of protesters at 10,000 to 40,000. No official figures were available.

Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has said he wants emergency authority to pardon prisoners to ease prison overcrowding.

On January 29, he said the protests had been "politicized" and criticized President Klaus Iohannis, who took part in a similar protest last week.

Iohannis, the prosecutor-general, the Supreme Court, and special prosecutors fighting organized crime have criticized the plan.

The draft decrees have concerned some people who complain about a lack of transparency and of legislating through decrees instead of through parliament.

Critics have also said Grindeanu's proposal would benefit party allies convicted of corruption.

The government says its proposal would lead to the release of 2,500 prisoners. Prison authorities put the number at around 3,700.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters and AFP </s> BUCHAREST, Romania — More than 10,000 Romanians on Saturday protested against legislation passed by Parliament which critics say will make it harder to prosecute crime and high-level corruption.

Protesters briefly scuffled with riot police as they massed in Bucharest’s University Square. Protesters shouted: “Thieves, thieves!” The demonstrators will later march to Parliament.

There were smaller protests in the cities of Cluj, Timisoara and Iasi. Protesters began arriving earlier in the capital by train from other Romanian cities and were greeted by people waving Romanian flags.

Last year, Romania saw the biggest protests since communism ended after the left-wing government tried to decriminalize official misconduct.

Parliament last month approved amendments to laws that many say will lead to a backsliding on its anti-corruption fight.

Prime Minister-designate Viorica Dancila supports revamping the judicial system. She is an ally of Liviu Dragnea, chairman of the Social Democracy Party, who can’t be premier due to a conviction for vote-rigging. </s> Tens of thousands of Romanians protested in Bucharest and other main cities on Sunday against government’s plans to decriminalise certain offences and pardon convicts through emergency decrees that could hurt an anti-graft drive.

The plans unveiled earlier this month by the social democrat government have been criticised by President Klaus Iohannis, by the prosecutor general, the Supreme Court, the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, civil rights groups and diplomats.

The police said about 50,000 people took part in the rally in Bucharest, making it the biggest demonstration in a recent wave of protests.

Shouting “Thieves, thieves”, protesters gathered in freezing weather in the capital’s main square Piata Universitatii and then rallied outside the justice ministry, the ombudsman’s office and the government’s headquarters.

According to the drafts, the government intends to decriminalise abuse of power actions causing financial damage of less than 200,000 lei ($47,500).

Abuse of power accounts for a third of anti-corruption investigations. The ruling leftist Social Democrats’ leader Liviu Dragnea is at present on trial in an abuse of power case. Dragnea, who received a two-year suspended jail sentence for a 2012 referendum-rigging conviction, has branded the recent street protests an attempted coup.

“I am here because I can’t believe that 27 years have passed and I find myself in the same place in the same square,” said actress Adriana Moca, recalling the eruption of the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Bucharest.

Thousands of people also protested in main cities in the country and in several European Union capitals.

On Monday, justice minister Florin Iordache will hold a round of public consultations over the plan - on which the country’s top panel of magistrates has already issued a non-binding, negative opinion.

Protesters shouted anti-government slogans and asked for the resignation of the justice minister, chanting: “Stop corruption,”, “No pardons, yes schools and hospitals,” and backed President Iohannis’s calls for a nationwide referendum to step up the anti-corruption fight.

The government is also seeking to pardon convicts sentenced to less than five years for committing certain crimes, and cut sentences by half for all prisoners aged over 60, and those having a terminal illness, regardless of their crime.

President Iohannis on his Facebook page on Friday said German chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he had a telephone discussion at her initiative said: “The chancellor expressed full support for efforts to maintain progress made by our country, but she expressed concern that certain steps initiated during this period do not affect the fight against corruption in Romania.”

The European commission keeps Romania’s legal system under special monitoring. It has praised magistrates’ efforts to fight widespread graft, but noted Romanian politicians have a history of trying to pass legislation which could weaken investigative powers. </s> Some 50,000 Romanians braved the sleet and snow on Saturday to protest against corruption in Bucharest. Brief scuffles broke out between the demonstrators and riot police during the march.

The event kicked off at the city’s landmark University Square, where protesters joined in blowing whistles, waving flags and chanting “Thieves!” and “Resign!” People also held rallies in other Romanian cities, including Cluj, Timisoara, Constanta, Bacau, Sibiu and Iasi.

Protesters are up in arms over new legislation, passed by the left-wing government in December. According to critics, the bill seriously compromises the country’s judicial independence.

Lawmakers are also set to debate a new set of proposals for revising the criminal code, including decriminalizing certain offences and lowering prison sentences, when parliament reconvenes in February.

“I came out today because I have two little boys and they deserve a better life in this European country,” protester Florentina Caval told Reuters. “I honestly don’t think we will manage to overturn the judicial bills, but we need to try,” she added.

Romania’s anti-corruption prosecutors have sent 72 members of parliament for trial since 2006, according to Reuters.

Last year, an attempt by Romania’s ruling Social Democrats (PSD) to decriminalize several corruption offences triggered the country’s largest mass protests since the fall of Communism in 1989. An estimated half a million Romanians, including over 200,000 in the capital rallied in February 2017 calling for justice, AFP reported.

If you like this story, share it with a friend! </s> BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania's president has urged the government to scrap a proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners, a move which has led to massive anti-government protests.

President Klaus Iohannis spoke after tens of thousands of people marched through Romania's capital and other cities on Sunday to protest the initiative, which critics say could reverse anti-corruption efforts.

Premier Sorin Grindeanu has requested an emergency ordinance allowing the government to pardon prisoners to ease prison overcrowding.

Iohannis posted a message on Facebook Monday, urging the government to drop the initiative, saying "the voice of the people can no longer be ignored."

Critics say the proposal could benefit party allies convicted of corruption. Romania's top prosecutor has criticized the plan. </s> About 500,000 Romanians took to streets around the country calling for the resignation of the social-democratic government, despite the fact that the administration had revoked its unpopular decree decriminalising certain types of corrupt acts. The demonstrators on Sunday chanted slogans — for the sixth consecutive day — such as “We want you to listen to us, not to lie to us” and “You’ve done it, you’ve gotten us united” on the plaza in front of the government headquarters, making a raucous clamor shouting and using noisemakers, Efe news reported.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu told Antena3 television that “I will not resign. We won the elections with millions of votes,” adding that in December the Social Democratic Party (PSD) garnered a winning 45 per cent of the ballots in the legislative elections. The crowd swelled to 300,000 in the capital of Bucharest, a much higher figure than in past days due to the arrival of many people from other cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Iasi.

Another 200,000 people demonstrated in other large Romanian cities in the largest wave of protests since the fall of communism in 1989. The PSD government on Sunday repealed a controversial decree decriminalising certain forms of corruption that had sparked a wave of mass protests across the nation. After the repeal of the decree, people began to gather in front of the government headquarters in the capital calling on the government to resign, and the crowd quickly ballooned to hundreds of thousands.

On Tuesday, the government imposed as a matter of urgency a decree that decriminalised some corruption cases if they cost the government less than 44,000 euros ($47,500). The controversial move, however, was greeted with outrage by the public, who took to the streets of the capital Bucharest in numbers unseen in Romania in decades. </s> BUCHAREST (Reuters) - More than 250,000 Romanians demonstrated on Wednesday against a government decree decriminalizing some graft offences, seen as the biggest retreat on reforms since the country joined the European Union in 2007.

Romania’s top judicial watchdog, the Superior Magistrates’ Council (CSM), earlier in the day filed a constitutional court challenge to the decree unveiled by the new Social Democrat government of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu.

The number of protesters rose to a new high in the evening, reaching 130,000 to 150,000 outside the cabinet building in Bucharest.

Another 100,000 to 150,000 were estimated by riot police to have joined similar rallies in 55 other towns and cities.

The rally in the capital subsided peacefully by 2200 GMT, but after people left the square, a group of about 300 soccer ultras came in and threw fireworks and stones at riot police. The police dispersed them with tear gas. Two policemen and two protesters were slightly hurt by stones, the emergency service said.

The decree that triggered the nationwide protests was approved by the cabinet on Tuesday evening.

“Repeal it, then leave,” protesters shouted. “Thieves, thieves.” Many waved Romanian national flags.

“Our chances are small but it is important to fight,” said Gabriela Constantin, a 36-year-old architect.

If enforced, as planned, within 10 days, the decree would, among other things, decriminalize abuse-of-power offences in which the sums involved are less than 200,000 lei ($48,000).

That would put an end to the current trial of Social Democrat party leader Liviu Dragnea, accused of using his political influence to secure state salaries for two people working at his party headquarters between 2006 and 2013.

Dozens of other political figures from all parties stand to benefit from the decree.

Romanian police stand guard during a demonstration in Bucharest, Romania, February 1, 2017. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS

“I don’t understand what the protesters are upset about,” Dragnea told reporters on Tuesday.

Two opposition parties, the centrist Liberals and the Save Romania Union USR, filed a no-confidence motion on Wednesday against the government which has little chance of succeeding.

As parliament opened for its first regular session of the year, USR lawmakers paraded banners reading “Shame” and other opposition deputies shouted “Resignation” or “Thieves”.

The Romanian leu EURRON=D2 fell as much as 1.4 percent against the euro to 4.5540, marking a seven-month low, while longer-term yields rose 14 basis points.

ENTRENCHED CORRUPTION

Romania’s Social Democrats won back power in a December 2016 election, one year after protesters drove them from office in an outpouring of anger over a deadly fire at a nightclub that many blamed on corruption and impunity.

Anti-corruption prosecutors are currently investigating over 2,000 abuse-of-power cases.

President Klaus Iohannis took part in an emergency meeting of the CSM, telling reporters afterwards:

“The problem is that one cannot act the way the government did in a country with the rule of law, which Romania is and wants to remain.”

“The fight against corruption needs to be advanced, not undone,” European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and his deputy said in a statement. “We are following the latest developments in Romania with great concern.”

Six western countries including Germany and the United States issued a joint statement warning that the government’s move would undermine Romania’s international reputation and position in the EU and NATO.

Slideshow (9 Images)

The decree would apply to ongoing investigations and trials as well as new cases. Criminal negligence would no longer be an offence, and the definition of conflict of interest would be narrowed.

The government on Tuesday also approved a draft bill that would grant prison pardons. It says it would bring the criminal code in line with recent constitutional court rulings and ease prison overcrowding, claims disputed by many senior judicial figures.
In the largest protest since the 1989 Revolution, more than 90,000 people march through Romania's capital and other cities against a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners.