Tens of thousands of people marched across downtown Warsaw today protesting against government policies they believe threaten democracy, as the country marked the 27th anniversary of its first taste of electoral freedom.
Former presidents Bronislaw Komorowski and Aleksander Kwasniewski led the crowd -- of around 50,000 people according to city or 10,000 according to police -- as they chanted "Freedom! Equality! Democracy!" and waved EU and Polish flags.
"I'm against this government. I didn't vote for it. I believe they're breaking laws," said Dorota Leszkowicz, a 61-year-old retired psychologist who turned up dressed in the EU member state's red and white colours.
Poles also massed in several other cities to mark the semi-free elections on June 4, 1989 -- Poland's first dose of democracy that heralded the peaceful demise of communist rule.
The rallies were organised by the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD), a movement that sprung up in opposition to the policies adopted by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party that came into power in November.
The reforms, which give the government more control over the media and other institutions while weakening the constitutional court, have alarmed critics at home and abroad.
"Basically, it's the PiS takeover of everything," said Bethann Hubert, a 52-year-old American living in Warsaw and a member of the KOD expat group.
"It's scary to watch," she told AFP at the Warsaw rally.
