Hungary: Police fire on protesters during McAleese visit

Police have fired rubber bullets at anti-government protesters today, as Hungary commemorated the 50th anniversary of its anti-Soviet uprising.

President Mary McAleese is in Hungary today for commemorations to mark the 50th anniversary of the country's 1956 uprising against communism.

Mrs McAleese will join other international dignitaries at a ceremony to remember those who died when the nationwide rebellion against Soviet rule was brutally suppressed.

An Associated Press speaking on the fracas today photographer said one protester was hit in the head by a rubber bullet and was bleeding, but still conscious.

Authorities also fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Protests on Kossuth Square outside parliament started on September 17, when a recording was leaked revealing socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitting that the government lied about the economy before its re-election in April.

The protesters had vowed to stay until Gyurcsany was dismissed, but police pushed them off the square after they refused to submit to security checks.

However, authorities did not dismantle the dozens of tents set up by the protesters, and were expected to allow the demonstrators to return after today’s events.

As the commemoration events began, state news wire MTI said police beat some of the protesters – including women and elderly people – with rubber batons, leaving some with head injuries.

By late afternoon, protesters began gathering in different spots near the centre of the city.

A few hundred protesters set up road blocks with rubbish bins and threw rocks at the police dressed in riot gear, who used large amounts of tear gas and several water cannon to disperse them on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Road, near St. Stephen’s Basilica.

At the same time, Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union, the main centre-right opposition group, was holding their own 1956 commemoration just a few blocks away. According to MTI, over 100,000 people were at the rally.