Background
Hyde Park is an NGO that works to protect free speech and the right to freedom of assembly. It is named after Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park, a site famous for free speech.
Hyde Park organised a number of public protests in Chişinău in 2005 and 2006. One was designed to protect the right to free speech in Moldova. Another was organised in front of the Romanian embassy, to protest against Romania’s policy concerning Moldovan students.
A series of these protests were banned by the city authorities. The reasons given included the government’s disagreement with the point the protest was trying to make and the damage a protest might do to the image of the Moldovan government.