Moldova risks turning into the second Belarus. The Communist government wants to usurp the power and introduce a totalitarian regime, leaders of the Liberal-Democratic Party (PLDM) told a news conference on May 21. The PLDM president Vlad Filat said that all the steps taken by the party, since its creation until present, have been permanently monitored by the Communist government, which, through the agency of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime, the Ministry of Justice and other state bodies, launched a broad campaign to identify and intimidate the PLDM members from all over the country. According to Filat, the government plans to annihilate the Opposition as institution of the political system and to rig the 2009 parliamentary elections. “Such a situation is out of the ordinary, given that the PLDM members are subjected to terrorizing,” Vlad Filat said. The first vice president of PLDM, jurist Alexandru Tanase said that the legal case instituted against the party’s members by the Prosecutor General’s Office was fabricated. Article 361 under which the case was opened, stipulates none of the acts/offenses concerning the forging of signatures of which PLDM is accused, the cited source said. According to Tanase, by their abusive acts, the authorities aim to intimidate and hinder the Moldovan citizens from participating in the political life and exercising their constitutional rights. The PLDM leaders said that at the hearings held by the prosecutors, the party’s members are subjected to inhuman treatment. They are asked questions that have nothing to do with the accusations brought against them. The Liberal-Democratic leader said that some of the interrogated members did not resist the pressure and fainted and were taken to hospital. “All these acts clearly show that the government aims to intimidate the PLDM members and to hinder the collection of signatures for organizing a national referendum,” Vlad Filat said. Therefore, PLDM describes the measures taken by the communist regime as direct attack on the democratic institutions, political pluralism, free association as well as other fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. The PLMD leaders announced they would inform the general public and the international structures about the way in which the members of the party are persecuted. Next week, the party intends to hold a meeting with the ambassadors working in Moldova to inform them about the created situation. In the near future, the party’s vice president Iulian Fruntasu will pay a visit to Strasbourg and Brussels to discuss related issued with MEPs and to present an extensive memo. Also, PLDM will demand that the Prosecutor’s Office drops the charges. Otherwise, they will appeal to the court. “Our reaction will be corresponding, appropriate and rather tough. We will respond to the illegal intimidation actions taken by the communist government against PLDM,” Alexandru Tanase said.