On Friday morning a group of persons was stopped from entering the sitting hall of the Chisinau City Council (CMC), in which the citizens planned to attend debates on some land-related issues. The man who obstructed their way was someone by the name of Vasile Olaru, who, though dressed in civilian clothes, introduced himself as an officer of the Chisinau General Police Department. The main reason set forth by officer Olaru was that the group of citizens had failed to put their names on an allowed-audience list. As the group wasn't very successful in softening the officer's resistance, they asked for the help of several councilors heading for the meeting. “Please let them in, you have no right to forbid them from attending a public meeting of the Council, it's not within your powers”, intervened Liberal councilor Mihai Ghimpu, who offered to lead the group into the hall. After entering the hall, the councilor get into heated debates with the representatives of the law enforcement bodies. “No one has the right to give orders for restricting access to the hall, not even Musuc (CMC chairman – e.n.) or the secretary of the Council”, stated Mihai Ghimpu. On hearing officer Olaru's refusal to surrender his position, Mihai Ghimpu suggested that Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca should step in. “I'd like to see a piece of law that requires lists allowing attendance at meetings”, came Chirtoaca's request. He recalled the police failed to react on a number of occasions when angry people had made their way into the hall and generated strife. “We are contracting the services of the State Guard. The police don't belong in the City Hall's building”, the mayor declared, but added that anyone was welcome to attend public meetings, even the police, as long as the size of the sitting hall allowed it. “It is going to be as the CMC chairman said”, municipal police chief Jacob Gumenitse made his break in, refusing to listen to the arguments of the mayor. After the mayor intervened and after the group registered, the people were allowed in. CMC chairman Eduard Musuc has told reporters that it is the duty of the CMC chairman to guarantee a smooth going-on of the Council's meetings, citing the law on the frame regulation for the local councils. Eduard Musuc argued that before entering the hall all the persons willing to attend must enter their names in a formal list. “If these requirements are observed, they are free to attend any meeting of the council, if there are free seats in the room”, said Eduard Musuc. The chairman of the CMC went on to assert that the heated debates before Friday's meeting were orchestrated by the Liberal Party and Mihai Ghimpu himself.