The City Police has banned sales of beer in the Great National Assembly Square and in its surroundings during public holidays, despite specific authorisations issued by the City Hall. City Police Chief Iacob Gumenita told the City Hall meeting on Tuesday that by doing so the police are trying to diminish the number of violent acts and instances of inadequate behaviour during the holidays, guided by the legislation in operation that prohibits consumption of alcohol in public places. The statement was made after Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca wondered how the police are going to act on the Wine Day, since on the Our Language holiday Vitanta Intravest brewery was forbidden from selling beer, although it was ready to sponsor the event in exchange. In this connection, Gumenita said that the City Police will make an exception, but only for the Wine Day, because it is “a national holiday, organised at governmental level”. Dorin Chirtoaca said that, according to international conventions, beer is not considered an alcoholic beverage, and the ban will not solve the issue of excessive consumption of alcohol in the Square, since “the forbidden fruit is the most tempting”, and the Square is surrounded by a multitude of stores, which cannot be forbidden from selling alcohol. To illustrate that the restrictive measures by the police are inefficient, the mayor brought the example of the multitude of empty bottles which are all over the Square after each party. The danger resides in the fact that people use to bring alcohol into the Square in plastic, metallic or glass bottles, which could cause serious injuries. According to the mayor, the optimal solution is to sell beer in plastic cups. Dorin Chirtoaca stated that he doesn’t regard the behaviour of the police as a defiance of the mayor’s authority. He says the problem resides in the double subordination of the city police, which chose this time to obey the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and not the City Hall. [Info-Prim Neo came across a prescription signed by the Chisinau Police Commissar, Eugeniu Axentiev, which orders the commercial entities located in the vicinity of the Square to refrain from selling “alcohol, including beer”. Otherwise, “the guilty persons will be hold answerable, with the concurrent examination of the issue of withdrawing licences of the commercial unit”.