Police have come under heavy criticism for failing to contain a counterprotest that congregated out of the blue yesterday to vilify the ACUM leaders as the bloc was staging a rally to protest rising prices.

ACUM lawmaker Iurie Reniță in particular rebuked Police Chief Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, who happened to be around during the face-off, for being “totally indifferent to the aggressive behavior of the counter-protesters and their obscene posters”.

“Of the multitude of signs wielded, each one filthier than the other, i’m sure (Gheorghe Cavcaliuc) couldn’t miss the one bad-mouthing Ms. Sandu directly. It was incredibly rude and obscene”, Reniță wrote in a FB post, referring to a rhymed slogan that mentioned Maia Sandu’s genitalia. Next to it, another poster deprecated the sexual prowess of Andrei Năstase, the other ACUM co-president.

Reniță accused Democratic Party leader Vlad Plahotniuc and his protege Constantin Țutu of being behind the disruptive demonstration, and the ACUM lawmaker thinks this explains the police inaction. Someone resembling Țutu, from what the voice and the open helmet visor could tell, did appear at the counterprotest leading a small group of sport bike riders that added some angry burnouts to the choir of whistles and vuvuzelas. The former K1 champion and ex-MP later reluctantly denied being there.

During the events, Chief Cavcaliuc told reporters that the police acted according to law and protocols. He said the claims that minors participated in the counterprotest will be investigated, as will be the alleged obscenities.

Contacted by IPN today, Gheorghe Cavcaliuc stuck by his statement that the police did their job well, as everybody’s right to freedom of expression was respected and no one was hurt.

As IPN understood from the Chisinau City Hall, the fact that the counterprotest was not announced in advance as required for groups larger than 50 people, this is normally not a reason to disperse the rally as long as it’s peaceful.

The police did form cordons to separate the demonstrations and avoid any potential violence. When asked by reporters why the police didn’t act promptly to make sure the counter-protesters didn’t come too close to ACUM’s rally, Cavcaliuc claimed the officers thought the group was actually going to join the original protest. Maybe they should have just read the signs.