Moldova's Capital Rocked by Rare Anti-Govt Rally

An unprecedented protest on Sunday brought together tens of thousands of people in Moldova's capital Chisinau demanding reform after a major financial scandal.

Clashes erupted between police and demonstrators and a women was hospitalized as some of the participants called in a "permanent protest", Interfax says.

Grigore Petrenco, leader of the "Red Block" movement, which helped co-organize the protests, is quoted as saying that many members are to remain in a makeshift tent city to work for the "cleansing of the judicial system of corrupt judges and prosecutors." The main driving force, however, was the DA civic platform Demnitate si adevar ("Dignity and Justice"), which has been taking people to the streets for different actions since early this spring.

Organizers suggest as many as 100 000 people attended the event which they also used to throw at the government accusations of infringing freedom of press and tightening monopoly over Moldova's leading media outlets.

Police say the Chisinau rally did not involve more than 35 - 40 000.

Some Russian-language media outlets describe Sunday's event as the biggest anti-government rally since the early 1990s.

Part of the demonstrators also demanded early elections and the resignation of the pro-European ruling coalition over a scandal which activists say exposed deep ties of "oligarchs" to different branches of power.

The disappearance of some USD 1 B from Moldova's banking system, which pushed down living standards across the country, sparked outrage among citizens who found in the revelation an evidence of widespread corruption.