Moldovan 'Twitter Revolution' Organizer Goes Into Hiding

Journalist fears arrest for role in anti-Communist protest
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2009 5:51 AM CDT
Moldovan 'Twitter Revolution' Organizer Goes Into Hiding
A man holds a newspaper during an opposition rally in downtown Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, April 12, 2009.    (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

The journalist who used Twitter to organize last week's mass protests in Moldova has gone into hiding for fear of arrest. Journalist Natalia Morar, 25, told the Guardian she is avoiding telephones and the Internet in case the same tools she used to rally supporters are used against her by the ruling Communist Party, whose election victory ignited widespread dissent.

"We expected at the most a couple of hundred friends, friends of friends and colleagues," Morar said. "When we went to the square, there were 20,000 people waiting there. It was unbelievable." The protests forced a recount of the election results, due to begin today, but the opposition has condemned the recount as "a trick" and vowed to boycott it. (More Moldova stories.)

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