Protests Erupt in Poland Over New Law on Public Gatherings

[inanna]

DEC. 13, 2016

WARSAW — When supporters of Poland’s governing party met for their monthly gathering last weekend outside the presidential palace to commemorate the 2010 plane crash that killed many of the country’s top leaders, they found that a group of protesters had already commandeered their usual spot.

The police quickly cleared them out. But it was a stark demonstration — along with larger dueling protests on Tuesday, the 35th anniversary of the imposition of martial law — of the disquiet over the right-wing government’s recent moves to restrict public gatherings.

“They are destroying everything I fought for,” said Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader, in an interview. “Free and democratic Poland is in danger.”

A year after roaring into office with a majority in the Polish Parliament, the governing party, Law and Justice, has embarked on a new round of what it calls necessary reforms to strengthen the power of the executive branch. Opponents call it a troubling slide toward authoritarianism.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/europe/poland-protests.html

[WhiteTara]

1. The monsters are everywhere.