The police didn’t respect the principle of proportionality when they used teargas against protesters during the August 27 festivities. Programs director of “Promo-Lex” Association Alexandru Postica, in an interview for Radio Free Europe, says that other means should have been used in this case before applying teargas, IPN reports.

According to him, the use of special means is stipulated in the Law on the Use of Special Measures. “The special means are to be used not against all the participants in assemblies, but only against persons who are aggressive and cannot be stopped in another way. The law provides that before using special means, the persons must be warned at least two times,” stated Alexandru Postica.

He also said that when teargas was used in this case, the police should have been taken into consideration the fact that persons who peacefully took part in the event could also be affected.

Alexandru Postica said the police, as a preventative measure, should have at least tried to ensure the security of the police officers by strengthening the segment where aggressive persons attempted to break the cordon.