Those clever Greenpeace protesters in Romania were at it afresh today in Bucharest, continuing 3 months of demonstrations against a toxic gold-mining project by turning the tables on members of Parliament who apparently were set to approve an open-pit cyanide-based gold-extraction project at the village of Rosia Montana by Canadian company Gabriel Resources Limited.
Protesters claim the proposed law would allow exploitation of any kind of resource, wherever it is, as long as it is labelled "national interest project."
Fifty members of Greenpeace showed up this morning at the Parliament building, with signs and shovels, and began to dig up its lawn in a search for gold without using cyanide.
Their digging, and the Bucharest police response, were captured in a 4-1/2 minute video:
After the police took away signs and confiscated shovels, the protesters continued to dig in the frozen ground with their bare hands, at which point they were arrested and transported to jail.
But their protest succeeded in getting worldwide media attention.
ALLAN CRUSE
09 DEC 2013