The leaders of the Székely National Council and the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania condemn and assess as an abuse of power the fact that the gendarmerie declared the Székely Independence Day parade in Marosvásárhely illegal, they announced at an international press conference in Cluj-Napoca on Saturday.
László Tőkés, president of the Transylvanian Hungarian National Council (EMNT) and Izsák Balázs, president of the Székely National Council (SZNT), at a joint press conference with the foreign guests of the event in Marosvásárhely, evaluated as an abuse of authority the fact that the celebrants who gathered in Marosvásárhely on Friday, Székely Independence Day, were not allowed to street parade, and returning to the practice of many years ago, the crowd of hundreds crowded the pavement.
László Tőkés emphasized:
condemns and considers it shameful that the gendarmerie called the pre-announced, authorized event illegal and tried to limit the right of those present to freedom of assembly and speech. 33 years after the regime change, Romania is still unable to catch up with international standards regarding minority rights, he said. Instead of progressing towards Europe, we have fallen back to the state of years ago
said the EMNT president.
Izsák Balázs said: the gendarmerie told him orally that they considered the demonstration illegal and unauthorized, and no written warning was sent. In Romania, according to the law on the right of assembly, an event that has not been announced, authorized or subsequently banned is considered illegal, he pointed out. None of these are true for Friday's rally. This was announced on December 7, 2022 in the mayor's office in Marosvásárhely, it was seen positively and a representative of the gendarmerie is also a member of the committee.
"You cannot classify an event in two ways: if it was witnessed, it cannot be illegal"
Balázs Izsák said.
He said: their lawyers will analyze if there has been an abuse of power, and if so, they will initiate legal proceedings. In response to a question from MTI, he said that the gendarmerie did not fine any participants on Friday, but based on the experience of previous years, they expect that the reports will be sent afterwards. If there is such a case, court proceedings will be initiated, he said. He believed that this is why the authorities were able to film the faces of the participants for a long time.
The full article from Szekelyhon.ro/MTI can be read here.
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