demonstration

Opposition Momentum leader charged with assaulting police

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The Budapest prosecutor’s office has pressed charges against six suspects, including opposition Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr, for throwing bottles, smoke bombs and other objects at a police cordon during a demonstration in front of Parliament back in December 2018.

The suspects, also including Bendegúz Koppány Szarvas, a local representative of Momentum in Budapest, “prevented police from lawfully securing an institution … through violent conduct”, Imre Keresztes, the head of the Central Prosecutor’s Office of Investigations, told MTI on Tuesday.

The prosecutor has proposed the suspects should be handed suspended prison sentences in an expedited procedure, with the exception of one of them, who had earlier been charged with vandalism committed in a group.

That one suspect, whom Keresztes did not name, could face actual imprisonment.

Under Hungarian law, assaulting officials or law enforcement personnel is punishable by 1 to 5 years imprisonment.

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Read alsoSzeged court hears fraud case involving EU funds

What to do when you have to go in Budapest?

bathroom toilets

A new campaign was launched recently, demanding more free and accessible public bathrooms in Budapest. This year, we celebrate a jubilee, as Budapest’s first public bathroom opened at Deák Square in 1870. Unfortunately, no working public bathroom system was developed since then.

A Város Mindenkié [the city belongs to everyone] movement organised a new campaign which they kicked off at Városháza Square.

The campaign demands more free, accessible public bathrooms built in Budapest, available to all. The petition has been signed by over 5,000 people, hvg reports.

We all had the delightful experience of getting nature’s call and having nowhere to go. In Budapest, it can be extra challenging to find a free toilet to use as there are fewer than 80 public bathrooms in Budapest, a city with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants. There are considerably fewer accessible ones; therefore, people with disabilities have even fewer places to go.

What is a minor inconvenience to the average citizen is a daily struggle for someone who lives on the street. Márton Gede, an activist of the movement, said:

“This seems like such a small issue, but it is often a huge problem. Where is the help when there is such a need? There are no public bathrooms anywhere. I am a homeless man, I sell Fedél Nélkül [a magazine distributed by homeless people to raise money] on Tűzoltó Street all day. The closest public bathroom which I often use is at Ferenc Circuit subway station, and it costs HUF 250 per use. This bathroom closes at 6 p.m., and I usually work until 8 p.m. whenever I can.”

Unfortunately, cities are under no legal obligation to operate public bathrooms, nor is it regulated how many public bathrooms should be available. In 2017, the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights asked the Ministry of the Interior to consider the need to amend the legislation and make it a legal obligation to ensure the operation of public bathrooms. They also asked then-mayor István Tarlós to consider the operation of public bathrooms as a municipal task until the situation is resolved at the national level. Neither the Ministry nor the Tarlós administration had made any progress in the last three years. Budapest’s current mayor, Gergely Karácsony, has included the public bathroom issue in his program, but his administration has not made any progress so far either. Inaction leads nowhere, and people will always have the biological urge to go.

You can support the AVM movement on their website.

More free, accessible public bathrooms in Budapest!

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Read alsoNew app for your phone: Budapest pee map – free places to go, when you really have to go

Film, drama university students demand replacement of supervisory board, staff threaten strike

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Students at Budapest’s University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) are demanding the replacement of the supervisory board of the foundation that oversees the institution and the restoration of SZFE’s autonomy, while the university’s staff have threatened to go on strike.

In a letter sent to Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics on Thursday, the students ask the minister to call for the resignation of the supervisory board of the Theatre and Film Foundation, which took over the university on Sept. 1 under a government decree. They also demand guaranteed educational and organisational autonomy as well as the restoration of the powers of the institution’s senate.

The students told a press conference that the university’s community rejected the supervisory board appointed by the ministry and regarded its activities as “illegitimate”.

A representative of the university’s staff said the institution’s recently re-written statutes and organisational and operational regulations “forced onto” them by the foundation went against the interests of the university’s staff.

The representative said the staff would embark on an indefinite strike from Sept. 21 unless the former senate’s powers and the university’s autonomy are restored.

Meanwhile, the foundation’s supervisory board has again called on SZFE’s outgoing leaders to carry out their duties and get classes under way.

The board said that by boycotting a meeting between the heads of the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference and the National Union of Students in Hungary (HOOK), representatives of the Theatre and Film Foundation and the rectors of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest and the University of Dunaujvaros on Wednesday, SZFE’s outgoing leadership “has again rendered dialogue between the two sides impossible”.

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Read alsoRectors’ conference, student union initiate talks on situation around film, drama university

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Read alsoSZFE – Protest held against changes at drama, film university

SZFE – Protest held against changes at drama, film university

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Students of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) and their sympathisers protested in central Budapest on Sunday afternoon against changes to the way the university is governed. The protesters insist that the institution had lost its autonomy.

A human chain was formed starting from the university building in Vas Street, proceeding along Szentkiralyi Street, past the building of ELTE university on Muzeum Ring Road and Corvinus University on Fővám Square, past the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and along the embankment to Parliament.

The protesters forming the chain held the same kind of red and white plastic tape that was wrapped around the SZFE building. They also passed a so-called charter written by the university’s outgoing senate which sets out fundamental principles regarding how the senate envisages cooperation with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (ITM), the ministry responsible for sections of Hungary’s higher-education network.

Another human chain was formed in Kossuth Square in front of Parliament. While waiting for the charter, the demonstrators chanted:

“Free country, free university” and several sang a choral work, Nobis pacem.

At the university’s Szentkirályi Street building, Lászlo Upor, the university’s outgoing vice-rector, noted that he had agreed with students occupying the university building to postpone Monday’s opening by a week and extended the enrollment deadline to Sept. 13.

But he also warned the academic year could not start unless the ITM addressed “the unsustainable situation”.

SZFE is now managed by a new foundation chaired by Attila Vidnyánszky, the head of the National Theatre.

Students have occupied the university since Monday evening, and the university’s leaders resigned on Sept. 1., though they will perform their duties until the end of the month.

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Read alsoRectors’ conference, student union initiate talks on situation around film, drama university

SZFE – Supervisory board not notified of start of academic year’s postponement

The supervisory board of the foundation of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) said in a statement on Sunday that it had not been notified by university leaders of the postponement of the start of the academic year or the extension of the enrollment deadline.

“We disagree with the decision,” the statement said, adding that it had asked the rector to justify his decision legally.

“Our disputes must not subsume the priority of teaching continuity,” the statement added.

The outgoing Vice-Rector of the university, László Upor, announced on Sunday the postponement by a week of the start of the academic year and the extension of the enrollment deadline to Sept 13.

Jobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: Orbán in Lukashenko’s footsteps

This summer’s most memorable political event was perhaps the uprising and street protests against the results of the Belarus elections as well as the regime devised by Lukashenko and upheld by a series of election frauds. Although the outcome of the Minsk protests is still in question, we can already see that the regime widely considered as the last stronghold of authoritarian Socialism and Europe’s last dictatorship has been shaken to the core, and it cannot survive without major concessions, if at all.

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi

Before the supporters of the free world started their victory dance to celebrate democracy’s latest eastward expansion however, we had better take a closer look at the status of those democratic values within the European Union.

We should be cautious because there is a infectious disease, hallmarked by Viktor Orbán’s name, spreading within the very same community that was constructed as the polar opposite of totalitarian regimes and built on the ideas of freedom and the rule of law. The disease is a political system that is currently in its advanced experimental phase in Hungary. It is often called a “hybrid system”, suggesting that even though it still has democratic institutions and separated powers, they do not actually control the executive power and ensure the smooth operation of checks and balances. Instead, they function as unscrupulous servants of the executive power. 

This process has been going on in the public eye ever since Viktor Orbán’s getting into power in 2010.

Using the summer slack season however, Viktor Orbán’s regime entered the next level almost on the same day when the Belarus dictator was shaken, crossing over to the world of open dictatorships where elections are no longer manipulated by gerrymandering, vote buying or electoral frauds but by blocking the opposition candidate from entering the race at all. If smear campaigns and propaganda don’t work, this ignoble goal can be achieved by involving the court system.

That’s exactly what happened in Hungary, where a by-election is held in one of the eastern constituencies in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County on 11th October as the region’s Fidesz-delegated MP passed away. 

The election has a symbolic significance since if Fidesz loses this parliamentary seat, which appears to be likely according to the data of the previous elections, then it may lose its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

Learning from the lessons of last year’s municipal elections, the opposition parties, namely the Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, Politics Can Be Different, the Hungarian Socialist Party, Momentum, Everybody’s Hungary Movement and Dialogue decided to run a joint candidate: László Bíró, who is a member of Jobbik. 

However, just a few minutes before the deadline to announce the candidacies, Fidesz appealed against László Bíró running as the joint opposition candidate in the by-elections, and the National Election Committee, which is filled with Fidesz delegates, granted the governing party’s appeal. 

The decision was upheld by the High Court of Justice a few days later. So, even though the official campaign already started, László Bíró is currently not allowed to run as an all-opposition challenger against Fidesz’ candidate, who happens to be the daughter of the deceased MP.

The Fidesz regime found quite an absurd pretext to block the joint opposition candidate from running: László Bíró is a member of centre-right conservative Jobbik party, which elected a new board and a new president last January.

Although Jobbik’s new president Péter Jakab has received the court resolution of his registration into his office, the competent Budapest-Capital Regional Court (obviously under political pressure, as there is no reason to drag such a simple, legally uncontested administrative procedure for so long) has refused to enter the party’s resolutions and Péter Jakab’s presidency into the registry. Fidesz submitted an appeal on the grounds that Péter Jakab is not a party president and his party cannot run candidates. 

This absurd reasoning was accepted by the National Election Committee that is supposedly independent but in fact serves the interests of Fidesz. And it has just been upheld by the High Court of Justice.

With this step, Viktor Orbán, who praised his host Lukashenko to the skies while harshly criticizing Europe just a few weeks ago on his Minsk visit, has finally arrived at the level of eastern dictators who use administrative measures to block the opposition from participating in the elections, thus reducing the ballot to a single candidate. That’s exactly what’s going on in Hungary. The only question is how long the European Union, after so many years of struggle for the rule of law and freedom, keeps lying idly by while its achievements are undermined within its own borders.

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Read alsoV4 foreign ministers urge Borrell to act swiftly on Belarus sanctions

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Read alsoPutin says country fully supports Belarus’ sovereignty, independence

Rectors’ conference, student union initiate talks on situation around film, drama university

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The Hungarian Rectors’ Conference and the National Union of Students in Hungary (HÖOK) have called for talks regarding the situation around Budapest’s University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE).

SZFE’s senate and leadership announced their resignation this week, saying the foundation that took over the university on Sept. 1 under a government decree had deprived them of “all essential powers”.

The Hungarian Rectors’ Conference told MTI on Friday that SZFE’s leadership, the head of its supervisory board and the university student union have all accepted an invitation to attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday at Eötvös Loránd University.

The Rectors’ Conference said it has set up the meeting because it believes certain “strong statements” made by both the university’s leadership and the supervisory board were only deepening the rift between the two sides, adding that their disagreements could only be settled through dialogue.

HÖOK and the Rectors’ Conference said they both considered the changes in the university’s stricter a step forward, adding however that it would only succeed if the university and its operator “are on the same page” when they begin their work together.

On Wednesday, the university’s outgoing leaders held talks with the head and other members of the institution’s supervisory board, where they made a commitment to carry out their duties until the end of the month.

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Read alsoStriking drama students demand resignation of university board

Daily News Hungary
Read alsoOutgoing film, drama university leaders hold talks with supervisory board members

Putin says country fully supports Belarus’ sovereignty, independence

putin lukasenko

Russia fully supports Belarus’ sovereignty and independence, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said here Thursday while meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“While we are in hospitable Minsk, we would like to stress that Russia fully supports Belarus’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” Mishustin said.

Pointing out that Belarus shares a close relationship with Russia, Mishustin said, “This is also about hundreds, thousands, or millions of people who are practically one nation.”

Mishustin also said the governments of the two countries are in regular close contact.

For that matter, Moscow and Minsk are firmly against attempts to tear Belarus away from Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“We will respond to those who are trying to destabilize the situation in Belarus and who have been trying for many years to tear Belarus away from Russia,” Lavrov said at a news conference following talks with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei.

Russia condemns foreign countries that exert pressure on the legitimate authorities of Belarus and openly support the opposition, he said, adding that Moscow will categorically suppress foreign attempts to organize provocation against Belarus, especially via multilateral platforms.

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Read alsoPutin says country fully supports Belarus’ sovereignty, independence

Russia sees the presidential elections in Belarus as valid and looks forward to the normalization of the situation through dialogue in the framework of the constitution and law, Lavrov said.

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Read alsoV4 foreign ministers urge Borrell to act swiftly on Belarus sanctions

International community calls for restraint in Belarus

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The international community has called for peace and restraint in Belarus, as President Alexander Lukashenko urged western powers to focus on their own problems.

Lukashenko said Wednesday that western leaders should focus on their own problems rather than the political situation in Belarus, state news agency BelTA reported.

“They are having a great deal of problems at home. Do not point at Belarus in order to draw attention away from the issues in France, the United States, Germany and so on,”

Lukashenko said at a meeting of his national security council via video link.

China believes that Belarus can maintain political stability and social tranquility through its own efforts, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday at a press briefing.

China has always respected the development path chosen by the Belarusian people and their efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, security and development, Zhao said.

China is aware that the domestic situation in Belarus has become complicated, Zhao said, adding that “as good friends and partners, we do not hope that the situation in Belarus will escalate into chaos and oppose external forces triggering division and disturbances in Belarusian society.”

Moscow is worried about attempts to use the internal difficulties that Belarus and its leadership are facing to impose limitations on its citizens that external actors would then pounce on, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with television channel Russia 1 on Wednesday.

“Nobody hides that it is all about geopolitics, about the struggle for the post-Soviet space,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov said he hopes that Belarusians will be able to sort out their own affairs themselves and not be led by “those who need this country solely in order to master the geopolitical space in order to promote the well-known destructive logic: You are either with Russia or with Europe.”

“I see no lack of readiness on the part of the authorities for dialogue. I hope that the same readiness will be shown by those who, for one reason or another, are not satisfied with the election results,” Lavrov said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for restraint and calm in Belarus as the country is enveloped in mass demonstrations, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Guterres calls on Belarusians to address post-election grievances through dialogue to preserve peace in the country, it said.

Belarus is engulfed in mass protests after incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term during the Aug. 9 elections, with the opposition refusing to recognize the results.

The European Union will impose shortly sanctions on “a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression, and election fraud,” European Council President Charles Michel said Wednesday after convening the leaders of the 27 EU member states.

The EU chief said the pan-Europe body does not recognize the election results announced by the Belarusian authorities.

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Read alsoInternational community calls for restraint in Belarus

Lebanese government resigns after deadly Beirut blast

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Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday announced the resignation of his government, after a deadly explosion in capital Beirut that has triggered anti-government protests.

Diab said he refuses to be held accountable for the corrupt practices adopted by previous governments.

“Weeks after the formation of our government, some political parties tried to hold us accountable for corruption, public debt, and economic collapse,” Diab said, adding that every minister in this cabinet has exerted great efforts in contributing to the roadmap to save the country.

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Read alsoLebanese government resigns after deadly Beirut blast

“We are keen about this country, its future and the future of our children, we do not have personal interests. We want the good for this country, but we refuse to be dragged to useless arguments.

Unfortunately, we could not stop some political parties from inciting people against us,” he said.

Diab said the government has decided to resign to be able to stand by the people who are demanding for a real change.

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Read alsoBeirut blasts death toll rise to 135, state of emergency announced

Beirut was rocked last week by two huge explosions that have claimed at least 158 lives and injured 6,000 others.

The ruling political class came under heavy criticism by the Lebanese people who accused them of negligence and recklessness by storing a big volume of ammonium nitrate at Port of Beirut which may have caused the huge explosions.

Index affair triggers demonstration in Budapest – Photos

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A demonstration was held in Budapest on Friday evening in protest against the dismissal of the editor-in-chief of news website index.hu, for media freedom.

The protest started at the editorial office in north Buda, then the demonstrators marched to Buda Castle.

Szabolcs Dull Index fired
Read alsoFinancial Times: “Independent media in Hungary shrinking since Orbán returned to power”

László Bodolai, chief of the foundation that exercises the employer’s rights at Index, initiated the dismissal of Szabolcs Dull on Wednesday.

On Friday, the portal announced in a “service statement” that all editors and almost all staff members had decided to quit.

“The journalists of Index have demonstrated that it makes sense having a moral backbone in this country,” András Fekete-Győr, leader of the opposition Momentum party, told the crowd, which filled Szent György Square next to the prime minister’s and the presidential office.

They had to stand up because “100 metres from here there is a cowardly little man who does not dare to face a mirror”, he said, adding that “we are fed up with cowardly politicians and their propagandists.”

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Read alsoVice President Věra Jourová: Solidarity with Index journalists

“I would like to build a Hungary of brave people, a country with a free press, an unbiased public media, an independent Academy of Sciences, a country with a Central European University and Index,” Fekete-Győr said.

Independent lawmaker Ákos Hadházy said that “this demonstration should not be the last, the protests should continue”.

He insisted that the senior officials of the public media should be appointed on the basis of consensus.

“There is no regime against which you can’t fight successfully but the stricter the dictatorial rule, the stronger resistance one should put up against it,” he said.

The demonstration was initiated by Momentum and attended by politicians of several left-wing parties.

Trump slams removal of controversial monuments amid nationwide racial reckoning at Mount Rushmore

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U.S. President Donald Trump visited Mount Rushmore in the midwestern state South Dakota on Friday to kick off Independence Day weekend, slamming the removal of controversial monuments amid nationwide racial reckoning as “a merciless campaign” in attempts to wipe out U.S. history.

“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children,” Trump said when addressing the Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore.

The president slammed a “new far-left fascism” in media and schools and “cancel culture,” describing those protesters targeting monuments which they think are symbols of racial oppression as “angry mobs.”

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Read alsoTrump says “probably” sending U.S. troops from Germany to Poland

“Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity, so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America’s destiny,” Trump said.

“This monument will never be desecrated,” Trump said of Mt. Rushmore Memorial.

“Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and our freedom.”

Tackling the divisive issue with a divisive speech, the president was trying to rev up his conservative base four months before the general elections, some local analysts say.

Trump has been under growing pressure amid the surge of newly reported coronavirus cases and the continuous nationwide reckoning of the country’s racial injustice and police brutality, they observed.

The president’s remarks also came as local Indigenous leaders and others have called for the monument to be removed, noting it was carved on sacred tribal land.

“Nothing stands as a greater reminder to the Great Sioux Nation of a country that cannot keep a promise or treaty than the faces carved into our sacred land on what the United States calls Mount Rushmore,” Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier said in a statement condemning Mount Rushmore and the Trump event.

About 15 protesters were arrested on Friday after they blocked an access road to Mount Rushmore hours before Trump’s arrival, local media reported.

Mount Rushmore was previously called “The Six Grandfathers” by the Lakota Sioux before it was carved with the presidents’ faces. It sits on land considered sacred by local tribes and was initially protected for their use until gold was discovered in the area and Indigenous peoples were forced off the land, according to a report from The Hill.

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Read alsoTourism returns as second half of 2020 begins

The Mount Rushmore fireworks displays had been stopped beginning in 2009 as a result of the risk of wildfires, but Trump has moved to revive the display this year, said a report from The Hill. No social distancing was planned for the event drawing thousands of people, most of them without masks.

Trump is expected to be back in Washington and deliver remarks from the White House on Saturday at the 2020 “Salute to America,” an event that will include multiple flyovers by military aircraft and a 35-minute fireworks display over the city.

Infections are up in at least 36 U.S. states as the country heads into the Independence Day weekend, according to a CNN tally on Friday. Much of the country has cancelled or scaled back traditional celebrations and events for the weekend as health experts warn that large gatherings could lead to spikes in COVID-19 cases at a time when the country is already experiencing significant surges.

Funeral honors George Floyd, Americans demand racial justice

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As a final farewell, family members and friends gathered on Tuesday at a private funeral in Houston, Texas and shared their sweet memories of 46-year-old African American George Floyd, who was suffocated to death in police custody two weeks ago.

Floyd’s niece Brooke Williams touched the audience’s hearts with her emotional speech, appealing for “no more hate crimes.”

She said she saw no remorse in the white police officer when he pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, “watching my uncle’s soul leave his body.”

“This is not just a murder, but a hate crime,” she added.

A short film was played at the funeral, showing a montage of Floyd’s photos depicting his life and also the protests around the world following his death.

Though the funeral was meant to be a private event mainly for Floyd’s family members, friends and school mates in Houston where he grew up and spent most of his lifetime, half of the 500 guests were public figures who came to pay their respects.

“We honor him because when he took his last breath, the rest of us are now able to breathe,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, declaring June 9 as “George Floyd Day” in the city.

In a pre-recorded video broadcast at the funeral, former Vice President Joe Biden sent condolences to Floyd’s family whom he met before the funeral.

Talking about racial equality in the country, Biden said, “Why in this nation do too many black Americans wake up knowing they could lose their life in the course of just living their life?… When there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.”

The funeral was held at the Fountain of Praise Church, where Floyd and his family used to worship when he lived in the city.

Due to social distancing requirements, only about 500 guests attended the funeral. But people from the city and other places gathered around the church in the heat prior to the funeral to pay respect to Floyd.

After the funeral, Floyd’s golden casket was transported in a car and…

Minneapolis to dismantle police department as pressure against violent policing mounts

Arradondo, Medaria Minneapolis Police

The Minneapolis City Council on Sunday voted to dismantle the city’s police department, of which four former officers were charged over their involvement in the death of an unarmed black man that triggered widespread global protests.

Nine members — a veto-proof supermajority — of the 13-member council voted to disband the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), which has long been accused of racism.

“Our commitment is to end our city’s toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it, and to re-create systems of public safety that actually keep us safe,”

Lisa Bender, president of the city council, said at a community meeting with activists in Powderhorn Park on Sunday.

In a statement, members of the council said that “decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis Police Department cannot be reformed, and will never be accountable for its actions.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that he will work “toward deep, structural reform and addressing systemic racism in police culture.”
Stressing that the city authorities will engage in “more community-led, public safety strategies,” the mayor added “I do not support abolishing the Minneapolis Police Department.”

The city council’s decision came as calls for ending police violence mounted in the wake of the death of George Floyd on May 25 at the hands of four officers of the MPD, with one of them kept his knee down on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.

All of the four officers have been fired, facing criminal charges.

Floyd’s death has since triggered protests against police brutality and racial injustice that not only spread across the United States, but also spilled over to other parts of the world.

The Minneapolis City Council’s move also came on the heels of an announcement by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday, in which he said the state’s Department of Human Rights will launch an investigation into the MPD’s “policies, procedures, and practices over the past 10 years to determine if they engaged in systemic discriminatory practices.”

Over 1,000 people join “Black Lives Matter” protest in Hungarian capital

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More than 1,000 people gathered at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in downtown Budapest on Sunday, protesting against the police killing of African American George Floyd in the U.S. city of Minneapolis.

Almost all of the protestors wore masks. The police presence was strong, but they did not intervene. Demonstrators, mostly young Hungarians, held up banners reading “Black Lives Matter” at the front of the demonstration.

Other banners displayed messages such as “Police everywhere — justice nowhere” or “No Justice — No Peace.”

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Read alsoFloyd’s death sparks global outrage

Floyd, 46, died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed facing down and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.

In his speech delivered in English and Hungarian, the well-known Hungarian reggae singer G Ras said: “We have come together to stand up against racism. Our enemies are not people of different political opinions, nor different political leaders, but human nature, the system in which we live, which we have built.”

“If we want to live in a better world, we need to radically change the way we live. On a global level, we must put an end to exploitation, racist hatred, and suffering,” he added.

His speech was greeted with huge applause, then young girls read texts about peace in English before an African-American activist spoke about standing up to injustice around the world.

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Read alsoU.S. media: Trump finds himself isolated among allies

After the speeches and music, protestors knelt in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the time it took for Floyd to lose consciousness as the police officer knelt on his neck.

Floyd’s death has sparked massive protests around the world against police brutality and racial discrimination in the United States.

Floyd’s death sparks global outrage

police-floyd-protest

Outrage over the death of unarmed African American George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis has been growing across the United States, and now, beyond.

Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he stopped breathing.

In a video footage, the victim was heard saying “I can’t breathe” while three other police officers stood by.

The incident has triggered massive protests against racial discrimination and police abuse across the country, prompting U.S. mayors and governors to impose curfews in more than 40 cities, while thousands of people have been arrested so far.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint from the authorities in responding to demonstrators, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, adding that Guterres hopes to see peaceful protests in the United States over the death of Floyd.

The tragedy has also set off protests outside the United States. In neighboring Canada, protesters took to the streets in Montreal to denounce racial profiling and police brutality.

In Greece, hundreds of members of the youth wing of the Greek Communist party KKE protested peacefully on Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the U.S. Consulate in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Raising banners of “I can’t breathe,” protesters outside the U.S. embassy chanted slogans such as “No to a system giving birth to crises, wars, and racism.”

“We join Greek people’s voice with the voices of all people across the world against the barbarity … We join our voice with the U.S. people who are giving a struggle these days for their rights, to be able to breathe,” KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas said earlier.

In Britain, thousands of people gathered in London and Manchester to protest over the death of Floyd, despite an official ban of mass gatherings.

Chanting “no justice, no peace,” the protesters gathered in London’s landmark Trafalgar Square shortly after 1 p.m. before marching through Westminster to Downing Street.

From the French capital city of Paris to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, and…

New York City extends curfew till Sunday to curb violence, looting amid protests

@NYPDChiefofDept

New York City will be under a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning till Sunday to curb criminal acts emerging from protests over the death of black man George Floyd, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.

Monday’s curfew, the first in the city since 1943, started at 11 p.m. and did not stop looters from breaking into stores in Manhattan as soon as night fell.

Over 200 people had been arrested before the curfew took effect on Monday night, and the whole night saw more than 700 arrests made, most of whom were youths, according to the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

The NYPD said that one officer was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in the borough of the Bronx Monday night, while another was hit by a car when trying to stop a burglary in Manhattan.

“We saw vicious attacks on police officers. That is wholly unacceptable,” said de Blasio at his daily briefing.

“Anyone who attacks a police officer attacks us all.”

Starting on Tuesday, no traffic would be allowed in a large part of Manhattan as soon as the curfew begins, with exceptions made for residents, essential workers, buses, and truck deliveries, according to the NYPD.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was “disappointed and outraged” by what happened Monday night, saying the criminal activity hurt everyone.

He criticized the city’s preparedness for Monday night’s chaos, saying the mayor underestimated the scope and the duration of the problem.

Though the NYPD doubled its police presence to 8,000 officers on Monday, the governor said there should be more.

The governor has said he has the National Guard on standby, but de Blasio has rejected the idea of having them deployed in New York City, saying it is not wise.

“When outside armed forces go into communities, no good comes of it. We have seen this for decades,” said the mayor.

Protests continued on Tuesday in the city, with thousands of people, mostly students of various ethnic groups, walking and chanting slogans such as “No justice, no peace” in a largely peaceful manner by the afternoon in Lower Manhattan.

Several streets were closed for demonstrations, and helicopters kept hovering above the moving crowds.

Scores of police officers were dispatched to some key locations such as the plaza outside the NYPD headquarters in Lower Manhattan, Union Square and Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Most of the shops in downtown Manhattan have had plywood installed over their windows and entrances, and workers were boarding up more shops on Tuesday afternoon, bracing for another potentially violent night.

So far, the city has arrested nearly 2,000 people since the protest erupted Thursday. More than 50 police officers have been injured, according to the NYPD.

Los Angeles mayor takes knee in solidarity with protesters

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took a knee in solidarity with protesters in a Tuesday demonstration over the death of African American man George Floyd in police custody last week in Minneapolis.

Garcetti took a knee during one of the demonstrations held near LA Police Department headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, expressing his support for peaceful protests against police brutality.

“A black face should not be a sentence to die, nor to be homeless, nor to be sick, nor to be under-employed, nor to be under-educated,” the mayor was quoted by local news outlet City News Service as telling the protesters.

“We need a country that listens,” Garcetti noted.

The protests over Floyd’s death went into the seventh straight day on Tuesday in the Los Angeles area. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hollywood Tuesday afternoon in the largest demonstration of the day in the area and many remained on the streets even after a countywide curfew took effect in the evening.

Authorities in Los Angeles had taken approximately 2,500 people into custody between Friday and Tuesday morning after a mix of peaceful protests and property destruction rocked the city, reported the Los Angeles Times, citing Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.

Although police clashed frequently with protesters after demonstration turned violent during days of civil unrest across the United States, some police officers were pictured taking a knee alongside protesters to honor the memory of Floyd.

Trump threatens use of military to quell nationwide unrest over Floyd’s death

boston-demonstration-GeorgeFloyd

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened the deployment of the military to quell the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, the black man who died in police custody last week in Minneapolis.

“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said at the White House Rose Garden. It was his first speech since Floyd’s death on May 25.

At one time during his speech, Trump said

he might invoke the rarely-used Insurrection Act of 1807, which authorizes the president to unilaterally deploy military forces on domestic soil for law enforcement purposes.

Trump claimed he would send in “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to restore order.

With helicopters hovering above and successive bangs from the nearby Lafayette Square, Trump declared himself “your president of law and order” and an “ally of all peaceful protesters.” Just as he spoke, protesters gathering near the White House were being dispersed by police using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Thanks to the police’s effort to clear the path, Trump was later able to cross H Street to visit St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he stood for a photo opportunity along with some senior administration officials.

The church, a historical landmark, was partially damaged as protesters set up fire nearby during Sunday night’s unrest.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned Trump’s remarks, saying at a news conference shortly afterwards that “calling out the American military for a photo opportunity. That’s what it was. I mean, it was shameful. It was really, truly shameful.”

Earlier on Monday, Trump reportedly called state governors “weak” in a contentious phone call with them to discuss the ongoing chaos, urging the state leaders to “dominate” to prevent further violence.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press briefing Monday that by using the word “dominate” Trump meant keeping peace on streets, not the way to handle protesters.

“The president has made clear that what we are seeing on America’s streets is unacceptable,” McEnany said. “Violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated.”

Curfews have been imposed on Washington, D.C. for Monday and Tuesday, effective from 7:00 p.m. local time and running through the night.

Floyd, 46, died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kept kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. Two separate autopsies released Monday both found that Floyd’s death was a homicide.

black lives matter protest
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