“Where are you going in this frosty weather?” “To the demo!” “What demo?”
At this point I have to explain to my otherwise very well informed Swiss friends and relatives that this demonstration was announced only in Romanian, and only via social media: “Demo for an independent Romanian judiciary, Saturday at 7 p.m. on the bridge near the city hall, in the center of Zurich.”
Read more: Mass protests in Romania: Stop corruption!
And then I head out. In the icy rain, the city seems abandoned. I try to imagine how it would look on the streets of Romania at this time of day; in Bucharest, in the university towns of Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Timisoara, where the neighbors meet in the stairwell and go out together.
As soon as I get on the Zurich city tram, I look at my mobile phone. Under #Rezist, the hashtag used during the 2017 protests against corruption in Romania, the first pictures from Bucharest are being posted: Hundreds have gathered on a city square, while elsewhere, thousands, even tens of thousands of demonstrators have turned out, despite the weather conditions.
‘DNA will get you’
I reach Zurich’s historical center and soon after, the dimly lit bridge, where two dozen Romanians have punctually assembled at 7 p.m. Most of them are young and unaccompanied, but there are also a few families with children.
Around 7:15 p. m., someone takes the initiative and asks: “Dear fellow citizens, shall we?” The photographer gives a sign, after which the banners and posters that have been brought along are hoisted up. Large cardboard eyes covered with the writing, “We see you,” as well as large yellow cardboard hands, on which “All for the judiciary” is written.
For more read the full of article at The DW
