WARSAW, Poland: Anti-government protests triggered by the tightening of Poland’s strict abortion law took place for an 11th day in the predominantly Catholic nation.
People in many cities again disregarded a virus-control restriction limiting public gatherings to more than five people. Marches, some of them held in silence, were organized Sunday in the cities of Szczecin, Wroclaw, Krakow, Lodz, but not in the Polish capital of Warsaw, where some 100,000 protested Friday.
Some protesters carried chrysanthemums and memorial candles as reminders that Sunday was All Saints’ Day, a national holiday. Poles were unable to visit the graves of their loved ones because the government decided to close all cemeteries due to the fast-spreading virus.
Hundreds of thousands of Poles, mainly young, have been protesting daily against the right-wing government and the ruling Law and Justice party since the country’s constitutional court ruled Oct.22 to overturn a provision of Poland’s abortion law that permitted abortions of fetuses with congenital defects.
They have been chanting for the resignation of the Law and Justice-led government, which has been in power since 2015. The government’s moves to control the judicial system, a new animal rights law and remarks against LGBT rights by top officials created political divisions and provoked protests before the abortion ruling.
More protests, led by women’s rights activists, are planned for next week.
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