PHOTOS: Large crowds occupied Budapest bridge, Buda Castle protesting against parliament decision
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Life without freedom is possible but much worse, independent lawmaker Ákos Hadházy said at a demonstration on Elisabeth Bridge in downtown Budapest, held to demand the withdrawal of amendments to the law on the right of assembly. Hadházy told demonstrators that Elisabeth Bridge had become “the second Liberty Bridge”.
Large crowds occupied Budapest bridge
“Elisabeth Bridge means the people who know that freedom is not just a phrase or a talking point, that we must act for freedom, that it is worth it,” he said. He called for the protests to last until the government withdraws the law enabling “the use of Chinese-type facial recognition software to surveil our compatriots in opposition”.
Hadházy said he was “personally fed up with shrugging our shoulders when red lines are crossed”. “We went out to protest, we said we wouldn’t allow it, then we went home and did allow it,” he said. He said he “can’t live in a country where the comrades in the police, just like the comrades in China, surveil Hungarian citizens with cameras and use them to punish people at demonstrations the government doesn’t like.”
Blocking the bridge is necessary
He said blocking the bridge was necessary “because our demands are acceptable, important, and because the powers that be are refusing to negotiate”. Resigned judge Adrienn Laczó said: “Judicial independence is important not for the judges but for you, because if courts lose their independence, then there really will be no one between your rights and this all-devouring authoritarianism.”
They went to the Buda Castle
Some demonstrators waved flags with rainbow, EU, Hungarian colours and antifa patterns. There was a rainbow flag with the opposition Democratic Coalition’s logo on it, and Momentum put up a banner on Gellért Hill saying “you can ban us but not the truth”. After the speeches, the protesters marched to the Sándor Palace where they were greeted by a few activists holding a banner calling for a “real regime change”.
