Moldova police face brutality allegations

BBC NEWS


The BBC has seen evidence of widespread police brutality in Moldova, following the disputed parliamentary election on 5 April. The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has been hearing people's stories.

The Communist authorities made hundreds of arrests after protestors stormed public buildings in the capital Chisinau, demonstrating against what they said were rigged results.

Those who have been released tell of severe beatings in custody, and there are reports that three may have died as a result of the abuse.

At a graveside in the town of Soroca in northern Moldova, men are shovelling freshly dug earth on top of a coffin. Women are holding flowers.

Occasionally one of the mourners approaches another and breaks of a piece of bread from a circular loaf.

It is Orthodox Easter weekend, but these mourners are here to bury Eugen Tapu. His family believe he died as a result of police brutality.

"I don't believe what the police told us," Eugen's father says later at the wake, walking between the tables with a fixed expression, pouring wine for the mourners.

"They killed him, that's for sure, and they must answer for what they've done."

No marks

The police say they found the decomposing body of Eugen Tapu on 15 April, hanging from his bootlaces in the attic of a building in the capital.

But Eugen's family say they could find no marks on his neck.

The Moldovan government strongly denies any involvement in Eugen's death, or in the deaths of two other young men, Valeriu Boboc, and Ion Tabuleac.

Both were found dead in the days after the protests, and media reports have attributed their deaths to injuries suffered at the hands of the police.

The allegations are hard to prove - so far no witnesses have claimed to have seen any of the three men in police custody, and the authorities deny detaining them.

But, human rights groups say that the kinds of injuries found on their bodies are similar to those suffered by the many others who were beaten during police detention.

Strip naked

At the other end of Moldova, in the southern town of Kahul, Ion Butmalai is lying in a hospital bed. He looks weak.

On the night of 7 April, Mr Butmalai was on his way back to Kahul from Chisinau when his minibus was stopped by police.

Everyone on the bus was arrested and taken to a police station in the capital.

"We were made to stand with our hands up facing a wall," he says. "They beat us with truncheons, and with their fists, and kicked us.

"They also hit us with rifles, on different parts of our bodies, in the head, in the back, in the legs."

After three or four hours outside in the cold, he says they were taken into the building itself and forced to strip naked. Then the beatings started again.

"We were beaten until some of us were covered in blood, falling over. After that we were taken to the cells, 15 or 16 people to a cell."

No evidence

On condition of anonymity, a doctor at the hospital said that Mr Butmalai's injuries are consistent with his story.
“ If it is proven that any members of the police force used unjustified force on any of the detainees... they will be held responsible ”
Valentin Zubik Deputy minister

This story is not unique. Iurie Craciuneac, an opposition activist, was arrested at the same time.

More than 10 days after the beatings, the bruises on his upper legs are still visible.

But a photo, taken after his release on 11 April, shows the real extent of his injuries, his thighs covered in purple and yellow patches.

The Moldovan police are under the direct control of the ministry of the interior.

Valentin Zubik, the deputy interior minister, told the BBC he has no evidence to prove that the any of the roughly three hundred people officially detained by the authorities, were beaten while in police custody.

Nevertheless, he says the Moldovan Prosecutor's Office is investigating the allegations.

"If it is proven that any members of the police force used unjustified force on any of the detainees - let alone torture or other means - then depending on the seriousness of the crime, they will be held responsible - whether that means disciplinary action or a criminal investigation."

Still in detention

But the executive director of Amnesty International Moldova, Evghenii Golosceapov, does not believe the minister's denials.

"I consider that these denials are not credible," he told us in the capital, Chisinau.

"All people who were interviewed by human rights defenders, including Amnesty International, are confirming that they were beaten, and they confirm that all the people they have seen in detention were beaten as well."

More than 100 of those who were arrested in the aftermath of the protests have been released in the past few days.

But Amnesty International believes that many more are still in detention.

Over the Easter weekend just gone, Chisinau's central square has been quiet.

But the scars of 7 April are still visible: windows in the parliament building are still shattered, still blackened by smoke.

The violence of those protests took the authorities by surprise. But the brutality of the response has shocked many others.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8007428.stm

Published: 2009/04/20 00:01:12 GMT

© BBC MMIX

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Organele de drept povestesc de ce au permis arborarea drapelelor pe institutiile de stat

Organele de drept povestesc de ce au permis arborarea drapelelor pe institutiile de stat
Luni organele de drept din R. Moldova au facut publice detaliile privind faptul cind in timpul dezordinilor, au fost arborate drapelele Uniunii Europene si Romaniei pe cladirile parlamentului si presedintiei.
INFOTAG, 13 aprilie 2009, 19:06

Chisinau, 13 aprilie ( INFOTAG ). Dupa a relatat anterior INFOTAG, publicatiile de opozitie sustineau ca politia a ajutat protestatarilor sa arboreze drapelele. drept dovada a acestei teze, in internet au aparut fotografii si materiale video care arata ca politistii urmareau linistit cum doi tineri arborau simbolurile pe institutiile de stat.

Igor Bodorin, seful Serviciului de Protectie si Paza de Stat, care asigura securitatea sefilor de tara si a institutiilor de stat, a declarat jurnalistilor ca in timpul dezordinilor din 7 aprilie "protestatarii au incalcat intelegerea, potrivit careia, grupul de initiativa, promovat de protestatari, trebuia sa urce pe cladirea administratiei presedintelui, insotit de reprezentanti ai Serviciului de Paza si ai personalului tehnic, pentru a arbora drapelul Uniunii Europene".

"Aceasta a fost singura conditie a protestatarilor, dupa indeplinirea careia atacurile asupra cladirii din partea tinerilor nemultumiti trebuiau sa inceteze", a mentionat Bodorin.

Acesta a subliniat ca "a fost luata hotarirea de a indeplini aceasta cerinta a protestatarilor pentru a evita dezordinile si altercatiile din continuare".

"insa grupul de initiativa nu si-a indeplinit promisiunile: pe linga drapelul UE, ei au arborat si drapelul Romaniei, in timp ce atacurile asupra cladirii presedintiei nu au incetat", a declarat seful Serviciului de Protectie si Paza de Stat.

Intre timp, MAI al Moldovei a publicat luni o informatie in care spune ca a fost stabilita identitatea a doi tineri care au arborat drapelele. Acestia sint Ion Galatchi de 17 ani si Dragos Musteata de 19 ani.

Unele posturi tv din Chisinau au aratat secvente din interogarea celor doi retinuti, care sustin ca "au decis sa arboreze drapelul UE pe ambele cladiri pentru a stopa distrugerea acestora".

"Eu sint baiatul imbracat in galben care a arborat drapelul UE pe acoperisul parlamentului si presedintiei. Declar ca in actiunile mele nu au avut nici un substrat politic. Eu am facut aceasta pentru a apara cladirea de atacul distrugator al protestatarilor", a subliniat Galatchi.

Potrivit comunicatului, acesta a declarat ca "aceste actiuni nu i-au fost dictate de colaboratorii organelor de drept sau de reprezentantii serviciilor speciale".

Dragos Musteata a declarat politistilor ca "ideea de a arbora drapelele a aparut la unul din grupurile de protestatari, care doreau prin asa mod sa stopeze violentele".

"Eu nu sint legat cu organele de drept sau cu serviciile speciale. Unul din protestatari mi-a sugerat aceasta idee, eu m-am gindit si am inteles ca acest lucru ar putea linisti masele. Ne-am inteles cu paza, inclusiv ca daca drapelul va fi arborat pe acoperisul cladirii, va fi posibila evitarea varsarilor de singe", a declarat Musteata.

De asemenea, si el a infirmat ca a arborat simbolurile sub influenta organelor de drept.

"Pe mine nimeni nu m-a impus, aceasta a fost propria mea initiativa. In fata presedintiei si parlamentului eu nu am fost atins de nimeni, inclusiv de politisti. La comisariatul de politie am fost tratat omeneste. Nimeni nu a facut presiuni asupra mea si nimeni nu m-a batut, nu a fost nimic din toate acestea", a spus Musteata.

Liderii partidelor de opozitie au declarat la mitingul de duminica de la Chisinau ca "dezordinile au fost provocate de autoritatile moldovene si de organele de drept, pentru a discredita opozitia". Drept argumente ei au adus exemple cu arborarea drapelelor pe cladiri, precum si faptul ca la presedintie au fost sparte sticlele si au fost afectate doar unele incaperi, iar cabinetul presedintelui si salile de sedinte au ramas neatinse de participantii la proteste.
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