All last week, Polands Parliament debated whether to approve a raft of bills, proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party, that had come under heavy attack from European Union leaders, human-rights groups and many Poles. By the time the bills were passed early Saturday and sent for President Andrzej Dudas signature, the peaceful protests that had begun a week earlier had grown and spread to dozens of cities across Poland.
Thousands of people have been systematically and peacefully demonstrating against the laws and the politicization of the judiciary, said Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, a member of Parliament for Modern, an opposition party. Poles suffered too long under Communism. There is no way that Polish citizens or the democratic opposition will allow this to happen to our country.
The protest sites scattered across Warsaw were only sparsely filled by early afternoon Saturday, as the previous nights much larger gatherings had lasted until near dawn.
Protesters in Warsaw have numbered in the tens of thousands most nights during the week of demonstrations, with smaller but still sizable gatherings in dozens of other cities. More are planned for this weekend.
did people forget their history??