Moldova’s ex-President Igor Dodon said that he will not obey the law and will wear the ribbon of Saint George at the events that will be held to celebrate Victory Day on May 9. If he is fined, he will go to court and will later go to the European Court of Human Rights if the Moldovan courts do not do justice to him. Moreover, Dodon accuses the government of making a serious mistake by banning this ribbon, saying this way PAS and President Maia Sandu infringed on the historical truth and the people’s feelings, IPN reports.
Igor Dodon said he intends to break the law on May 9, but asks the citizens to decide themselves if they are ready to assume the consequences of the violation of the law. In accordance with the law, the promotion of the symbols of the Russian military aggression is punished with fines of 4,500 to 9,000 lei in the case of private individuals and of up to 30,000 lei in the case of legal entities and persons with responsible posts.
“As I promised, on the Victory March on May 9 I will wear the ribbon of Saint George, as my family will do. I do not call on the citizens to do the same. Everyone should decide for themselves. It is a personal decision and responsibility. We consider the adopted law runs counter to the Constitution and it will be repealed either by the future Parliament or through the agency of the European Court. The ECHR examined a similar case referring to Hungary, but it went to the ‘little star’ symbol. A citizen was penalized and this went to the ECHR. The Court held that Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights was violated and the law was annulled. It will happen similarly in our country. If I’m penalized, I will go to court, according to the procedure, and will then go to the ECHR,” Igor Dodon stated in a program on PublikaTV.
He also said that the banning of the ribbon of Saint George will have a boomerang effect on the PAS government.
“Most of the countries of the European Union didn’t ban the ribbon of Saint George, not even Germany. In our country, there are some extremely anti-Soviet people or they want to be praised by officials from the West. But their actions will have adverse effects. This symbol will become the symbol of the opposition against PAS and Maia Sand. If not now, in several months those who are against Maia Sandu will wear this symbol. They made a huge mistake. As to Gagauzia, their law provides that they can take own decisions on aspects referring to the cultural heritage. What they do now to annul those decisions by court is something derisory,” said Igor Dodon.
On April 29, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia adopted a document that allows making, keeping and wearing the ribbon of Saint George, red flags and other symbols related to the victory in World War II on the territory of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Later, the Comrat Appeals Court annulled this document.
