UPDATE HotNews.ro correspondent to Chisinau reported LIVE: Protesters are devastating the Parliament

Valeriu Vulcan, the HotNews.ro correspondent to Chisinau, was among protesters in downtown Chisinau, the capital of the Moldova Republic, on Tuesday, reporting live from the event. He said of the crowds gathered between the buildings of the Parliament and the Presidency: „What I see now is a huge crowd of people sieging the ground floor of the Presidency”.

Valeriu Vulcan:

• 1.56 p.m.: There is a lot of people, in the thousands. It’s hard to say a precise figure/ Some are grouped before the Presidency, others before the Parliament HQ
• Demonstrations have gone violent. Provoked by law enforcement troops, protesters started to throw stones.
• Under protest pressure, law enforcement troops withdrew and are now grouped somewhere on a side of the Parliament building, while others are grouped at the Presidency HQ
• Spirits appear to have calmed down a little. So far, the ground floor and the first floor of the Presidency building have been devastated
• 2.10 p.m.: Five minutes ago two grenades were thrown as a warning from inside the Parliament building, which is sieged by the protesters. No victims have been reported as far as I know. But I’ve seen policement wounded by stones thrown at them
• Furniture which protesters brought out from inside the Parliament has been put on fire in front of the building
• An administrative unit that belongs to the Presidency HQ has been put on fire
• At least one politician is among the protesters – Vlad Filat, head of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM)
• Most protesters are young, some of them very young. It appears most of them are students, with an average age of 20
• Chanting: „We won’t leave here”, trying to force their entrance in Presidency and Parliament buildings, which are guarded only from the inside
• Police use water cannons at the Presidency HQ
• 3.00 p.m.: Number of protesters in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau up to several tens of thousands, beside the several thousands protesting before the Presidency and the Parliament
• There are rumors that two policemen were wounded but the information is not officially confirmed
• 4.00 p.m.: Police use tear gas in confrontations with protesters at Presidency and Parliament HQ. Ambulances have arrived but it’s not clear whether there are victims.
• A session of the National Council for Extraordinary Situations was called for 3.30 p.m. President Voronin was due to meet foreign ambassadors to Chisinau at the Government headquarters. Leaders of the main opposition parties were also inside Government premises
• 5.00 p.m.: Several rooms on the ground floor of the Parliament were burning. A thick cloud of smoke was drifting through the roof of the Parliament but it was not clear what was fueling the fire.
• Some policemen withdraw from the Parliament building. Protesters chant „Police are with us”
• 6.00 p.m.: Crowds enter the Parliament and throw chairs through the windows. Police have withdrawn and are watching the crowd without intervening. Several pyres made of destroyed furniture have been lit up in front of the Parliament HQ. A large number of protesters have entered the Parliament and people are devastating the building
• 6.00 p.m.: A round of negotiations at the government HQ, between opposition leaders (Serafim Urechean, Vlad Filat, Dorin Chirtoaca) and president Vladimir Voronin have just concluded, but they failed to reach a clar understanding. Opposition leaders are insisting on three points: stopping the violence, accusations be dropped that they were plotting for a coup d’etat and the right of citizens and parties of chacking the results of elections be guaranteed. Parliament speaker Marian Lupu insisted on an alleged coup d’etat attempt, suggesting that it was inspired by Romania. As a proof, he spoke of Romanian flags being raised among protesters and of pro-Romania chants. All seem to agree on one thing – the need to urgently stop violence.
• 7.00 p.m.: Chisinau Mayor and Liberal leader Dorin Chirtoaca joined the crowds gathered before the Presidency HQ with an appeal against violence. He said negotiations were under way with the government and that he set four conditions. He urged the people to follow him in the Great National Assembly Square to stop violence. Most protesters followed him, only several hundreds remained before the Parliament and Presidency HQ

Note: Telephone connections are failing often and renewing link with the HotNews.ro correspondent in Chisinau is difficult

UPDATING…