The Public Organization of Veterans and Pensioners of the Ministry of the Interior expressed their hope that the law enforcement bodies will objectively investigate the incident when a minibus moved towards the police cordon during an anti-government protest mounted in Chisinau on September 17. In a news conference at IPN on September 18, members of the organization said the incident was planned by ex-police officers who contributed to organizing the protest.
The organization’s member Gheorghe Gandrabur said the veterans and pensioners of the Ministry of the Interior condemn former police employees’ actions aimed against police officers who maintain public order. The attempts to destabilize the situation were thwarted on September 17.
Gheorghe Gandrabur noted that some of the organizers of the protest, including ex-policemen, had an aggressive behavior and this showed that their goal was not to demonstrate peacefully, but to cause altercations and destabilize public order. “The police officers are present at protests not for being aggressed, insulted or having their uniforms damaged, but for maintaining public order and security and for enabling the protesters to share their ideas. Yesterday, some of the protesters incited against the police. The participants in the protest were urged to break through the police cordon so as to provoke the police to use violence,” he said.
The organization’s deputy chairman Constantin Busuioc described the September 17 incident as a “terrorist act”. “The political parties should come to power by peaceful protests, not by using violence. The police officers who maintain public order are our children, grandchildren or brothers,” he stated.
The protest staged by the Great National Assembly Council on September 17 ended with a criminal case. According to the police, while police officers were maintaining public order and security, a minibus entered the crowd and moved towards the police cordon, endangering the life and health of those who attended the protest. Four police officers were hurt. It happened near the building of the public TV channel Moldova 1. On September 18, the police arrested the driver of the minibus. This is investigated for leaving the place of the accident. It was established that he didn’t possess a driver’s license for that type of transport.
