Romanians mark 1989 revolt, reject government’s amnesty plan

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romanians are demanding more democracy at an anti-government march to commemorate the victims of the country’s 1989 anti-communist revolt.

Protesters gathered Saturday outside government offices in Bucharest carrying candles and Romanian flags before marching to Revolution Square, where late Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu fled in a helicopter as crowds demanded his ouster.

The demonstrators chanted “We don’t want to be governed by thieves!” demanding that Romania’s Social Democratic government scrap a plan to grant amnesty to those convicted of corruption.

Oana Solomon told The Associated Press: “People died in 1989 because they wanted Romania to be free … we don’t want to go back to those days.”

Some 1,104 people died during the 1989 uprising that toppled Ceausescu. He was executed with his wife Elena after a summary trial on Christmas Day.