Violence overshadows 1956 commemorations

Monday's celebrations of the 1956 Uprising anniversary were marred by violence as police clashed with anti-government protesters for 11 hours at various sites, bringing tear gas and water cannons to the heart of Budapest's tourist district.

Police used rubber bullets for the first time, while protesters lobbed a few Molotov cocktails and at one point commandeered a World War II era tank on display for the commemorations. Around 100 people were injured from both sides, none critically.

The events began when police emptied Kossuth tér in front of Parliament late Sunday night, claiming that 50 demonstrators had not kept the agreement that the square would be split between protests and official celebrations. Eleven people were detained for resisting the police. In the subsequent search of tents, police found knives, axes, metal balls, rods and Molotov cocktails.

After a quiet Monday morning, protesters gathered at the Corvin köz in Budapest's Eighth District, where 1956 veteran Mária Wittner addressed the crowd. The trouble began at 3 p.m. when the throng returned to the Fifth District with the aim of reoccupying Kossuth tér and fought with police in Alkotmány utca. Protesters set up barricades on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky and near Deák tér as police pushed them back.

Around 5 p.m. rioters erected barriers and even hijacked an unarmed historic tank from the exhibition near Deák tér. The crowd came closer to the police, with some throwing stones, before the police attacked, reclaiming the T-34 tank with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. Police were content to push the rioters towards Astoria, where the Fidesz rally was underway.

The disturbances resumed after the rally ended and most of the crowd had left the scene. One group of violent activists erected a barricade at Wesselényi utca on the Nagykörút then set fire to it. This led to clashes at Blaha Lujza tér and on Rákóczi út before police moved in force to disperse the protesters at 11 p.m. Fidesz MP Máriusz Révész received head injuries at Blaha Lujza tér.

Another large group made a stand between the Elizabeth Bridge and Ferenciek tere. As police kept their distance, the activists erected a barricade of wood and steel girders from a nearby construction site. During the ensuing three-hour stand-off, the crowd swelled to an estimated 5,000. Cars were overturned on a nearby street, one of which was set ablaze.

The crowd had dwindled considerably when police deployed tear gas and water cannons to break up the mob at 1:30 a.m. Police used truncheons on those they caught, and fired tear gas at fleeing protesters along Váci utca as far as Vörösmarty tér.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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