(17 Dec 2009) SHOTLIST
Timisoara - 17 December, 2009
1. Wide of cathedral and monument to veteran revolutionaries in foreground
2. Close of Romanian flags
3. Man holding poster in front of cathedral reading (Romanian) "No more lies"
4. Close of poster
5. Various shots of religious service inside cathedral
6. Various shots of people lighting candles
7. People with Romanian flag outside cathedral
8. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Valeriu, last name not known, veteran revolutionary:
"I regret the fact that remembrance has no real value, we risked our lives for the good of the Romanians, for a better life, and now the old members of the secret police or the communist party are still in power."
9. People coming out of cathedral and heading toward heroes monument
10. Old Romanian revolution flag with a hole through the middle
11. Zoom out of monument to wide of priests holding prayer service in front
12. Close of priest holding crucifix
13. Man holding wreath
14. Men laying large wreath at monument
15. Wreath seen through hole in Romanian flag
FILE: Location unknown - December, 1989
16. President Nicolae Ceausescu making television address
FILE: Timisoara - December, 1989
17. Wide of street AUDIO: gunfire
++NIGHT SHOTS++
18. Mid of crowd chanting
19. Soldier standing-by behind large automatic weapon
20. Machine gun fire at night AUDIO: gunfire
21. High angle of vehicles set ablaze
22. More vehicles on fire
23. Various of crowd AUDIO: gunfire
STORYLINE:
Romanians continued to pay homage to the fighters on Thursday who took to the streets of Timisoara 20 years ago, sparking the revolution that swept Eastern Europe's most repressive dictator from power.
It was here that residents flocked to the defence of an ethnic Hungarian dissident pastor who was being threatened with forced relocation, leading to rapidly escalating confrontations with police.
The next day, police, army and secret service units began firing at protesters, the start of six days of fighting that subsequently spilled over to Bucharest and led to the toppling of Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu.
More than 1,000 people were killed in the sole violent upheaval of the revolutions that swept communists from power across Eastern Europe 20 years ago.
Of those, 118 were killed in Timisoara.
On Thursday veteran revolutionaries and others participated in a prayer service in the city's cathedral.
Later they marched to a monument in memory of those killed in the fighting, laid wreaths and held prayers.
The revolutions were sparked when authorities tried to forcibly move an ethnic Hungarian pastor, Laszlo Toekes, to a remote rural parish.
Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed after a summary trial on Christmas Day.
Ceausescu's brutal reign was underpinned by the notorious Securitate who had an army of an estimated 700-thousand informers - about 1 in 20 Romanians - to stifle dissent during 25 years of harsh rule.
Towards the end of the Ceausescu era, ordinary Romanians suffered through harsh rationing in which even bananas and oranges became a luxury, as the dictator tried to pay off the country's foreign debt.
Today, Romania is still drowning in debt - with foreign obligations of almost 78 (b) billion euros (113 (b) billion US dollars).
Although it joined the European Union in 2007, the nation remains deeply troubled, plagued by corruption, mired in deep recession, and paralyzed by political infighting.
The Constitutional Court confirmed the re-election of President Traian Basescu on Wednesday after a delay over opposition allegations that the 6 December election was rigged.
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