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Budapest 19 September: an eyewitness account
thecoderguy - 20.09.2006 01:30
REVOLUTION 4k intro
- Introducing the smallest revolution of Hungary -
The shit hit the fan in Hungary on the last weekend.
(Background info)
A half hour recording of ex-regime member turned businessman turned democratic politician Ferenc Gyurcsany, PM of Hungary, was "leaked" to dozens of news media companies on Saturday in a highly organised manner. It was a party-members-only conference speech by him about using lies for governing- and election-policy years and years on end. Local economy is on the edge, harsh tax raises and cancelling several social benefit programs were just announced during the last few months, so public tension was already high. -Parts of the "leaked" confidential speech blew the fuse for many folks, and peaceful protests started at the Parliament on Sunday afternoon by a few hundred people.
An eyewitness report of the events that followed after:
Sleeping Anger
On this Monday, the protests continued, and the number of protesters multiplied by early evening into the 10'000+. I was surprised to see the majority of participants were apparently not socially disadvantaged poor folks who are most critically impacted by current economical restrictions, but middle-class people from middle-class families like me, predominantly in their 20s to 40s. There was pretty high agitation as well as anger -- when we were not shouting slogans or listening to various self-made spokesmen on a made-shift loudspeaker system, most of us were freely talking with people we met for the first time. Just as I expected, I found out that the majority of us were those who voted NOT for the current governing coalition, but there were also a smaller number of their voters present, those who turned really bitter and pissed about laying their trust into them. As could be expected, oddballs, radicals and extremists appeared as well, I estimate less than 500 in total for the radical/extreme right folks, that including the soccer hooligans.
Sometimes after 22:00 we heard a lot of shouting that there was something heavy happening at the main public broadcast TV building, that used to be the state-owned regime TV station in the old days. The TV building is a historically prominent place because of its key role during the 1956 Revolution -- the '56 revolution exploded with the people taking over this state-owned TV and starting their broadcasts to mobilise the rest of the country.
[It was only made clear to me later that initially two right radicalist leaders were entering the TV, and tried to get their political petition broadcast -- demanding the governing coalition to disband. They were refused, and the company security personnel _illegally_ tried to arrest /capture both of them -- here only the police can do valid arrests. One guy barely escaped the building and then things rapidly escalated as the hardcore right radicalists including a few dozen very well known soccer hooligans tried to enter the building by force, the security guys called the police, some police force managed to enter the building from the other side, then secu+police barricaded the enterance and used tear gas and the firehoses to keep crazed rioters away. It was then that some of these guys came back to the parliament and called us to the TV building -we were too prompt to go there because of the place's historical significance of exploding the 1956 Revolution]
On arriving there, I found riot police and an armoured vehicle with water cannon trying to disperse the rioters and protesters.
I can fairly say that police's reaction was PROVOCATIVE, as they started to use tear gas against all of us indiscriminately -- against the apparently non-agressive and separated protesters as well as against obviously extremist elements attacking the enterance of the building.
TV building
Shortly after I arrived there and got tear gased, came the riot police assault. We were angry about the shameless shit the .gov was doing for years, especially now that the "leaked" record had so many extra details on it, sprinkled with the worst bloody outrageous style and slandering on the country by the PM. We were some 5000 or so by now, and the police was really pouring down tear gas and water cannon on us. There were also, I estimate, 500-600 riot police in protective gear and plastic shields to disperse us. Were we in an asphalt-paved area of the city, they would have succeeded!
But the square in front of the TV building had these 6cm*6cm granite cubes covering most of the ground, for some decorative paving...
We were so angry, and they came so handy.
Came the assault, we withdrew for 5 seconds or so, then we started harvesting the stones and salvoing the riot police, breaking up their formation and pushing them afar!
Then again!
Then again!!!
-I think we defeated 3 assault waves by salvoing them with the cobblestones. That is incredible, I feel PROUD about it!
I am also proud about many of us helping and picking up injured riot police, and transporting them back to their squadrons. We are not animals.
As a fundamental cornerstone of Democracy, every country shall have these handy cobblestones covering public areas around government buildings, news media institutions and business districts.
The Water Cannon
Riot police had this idea of penetrating the protesters with a wedge lead by an armoured mobile water cannon with about 600 riot police covering behind it, then disperse us from the square.
There were just a few CRUCIAL mistakes made here.
1./ They were entering a wide open area with an armoured vehicle leading in front as a shield to riot police infantry -- it was of no use for cover, as we could easily outmaneuver it.
2./ The water cannon was just heading straight into the middle of the protesters across a large square with areas of bare ground -- they were so busy shooting the water cannon forward that the patches of bare ground turned into deep mud and trapped the heavy armoured thing as it tried to cross it.
3./ The water cannon had an integrated tear gas self-defence mechanism -- it ran out some half an hour after we flanked the tailing riot police and CHASED THEM AWAY with massive salvoes of mentioned 6cm*6cm granite cobblestones, then surrounding the stuck vehicle.
When it was finally out of tear gas, we DEMOLISHED the vehicle, removed the driver/turret operator guys and quickly lead them back to their squadron in safety because some crazy people wanted lynching them.
Then the water cannon was literally taken apart for souvenirs, I have seen people taking parts of dashboard and various bits and pieces home for relics.
TV building pt.2
The total of 120-150? radical/extreme right rioters finally defeated the 30+ police+security force holding the barricade with firehoses and tear gas -- the barricade was raised from heavy doors torn off inside the building and even from the security gate with metal detector and other solid materials the people inside had at hand.
When the barricade was torn down, I only seen a small part of the radicals/extremists actually entering, they rather stayed outside for some reason. But it was several hundreds of us, protesters entering - inside, I was just staying at the lobby for a look-around but did not go up the stairs to the offices/studios.
From my experience while I was there, and from two other accounts, we did not notice any systematic destroying from other protesters, so I was surprised by later claims today that "several offices were burned down and others destroyed"??? Soon we left, only a few dozen people stayed inside the building and out in the square, it was almost 3 in the morning after all...
Echoes of '56
In 1956, our Revolution for independence from the Soviet rule bloomed with the people forcibly entering the State TV building, just like now.
-In fact, the characteristic flag of the '56 Revolution -- the Hungarian flag with a torn hole in the middle -- was heavily featured in this event.
You can find a bunch of pictures here about the happenings, pulled from various sources.
A news item in english at indymedia.hu about the same event:
 http://www.indymedia.hu/cikk.shtml?x=31932
NEXT PART?
WHAT A SURPRISE, our government and affiliated media accuses "the extremists" for everything yet again -- anything out of their direct personal and financial interest is extremism after all, isn't it?
We are on the streets again tonight, and will keep up until something changes about local politics.
Expect the sequel to REVOLUTION 4k tomorrow.
-Please, feel welcomed to join the party, new releases every day until we hack or crack the system!
***
Personal account: thecoderguy
English translation: thedesignerguy
***
* * *
TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE!
Briefly about tonight's event.
Sunday, when it started, it was 150+ people.
Monday 10'000+, almost half moving over to the TV building and clashing with the riot police.
Tuesday night it is maybe 80'000 or more people peacefully protesting at the parliament, with 50-60 other cities keeping solidarity protests with a few thousand people per city. There is only some thousand police here at the parliament, and they look like pretty scared and worried.
I just got home, but I will be back there Wednesday evening.
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videomaterial:
http://freeteam.xs4all.nl/hungary/Tuesday-Blahasquare-CopsGased.avi
A teargasgrenade fired by the riot-police is thrown back at the line, shortly stunning them.
http://freeteam.xs4all.nl/hungary/Tuesday-Blahasquare-OldPops.avi
A man is standing in front of policeline, and telling them off. "you want to be a martyr? what are you kids doing here? I was here in the revolution of 1956!!!"
http://freeteam.xs4all.nl/hungary/Tuesday-Blahasquare-FULLpt1.avi (54 MB)
http://freeteam.xs4all.nl/hungary/Tuesday-Blahasquare-FULLpt2.avi (55 MB)
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| Read more about: europa vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten | | supplements | | some supplements were deleted from this article, see policy | | photos | united sceners - 20.09.2006 01:42
photos taken on monday evening 18 september in Budapest
This evening the amount of people present was by estimation around 200 extreme-right/hooligan types, 1500 to 2000 ordinary/family people, 2000 university students and a couple of hundred mixed people like children and old people. Nothing like the 'mostly hooligans' as Hungarian media and politicians claim.
The prime minister said earlier "let them protest, it will only take 1 or 2 days". Now we are in the 3rd day already, and over 80.000 protestors gathered in Budapest alone. How many days or weeks will it take him to realise that this is serious??
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