Artur Reshetnikov ready to appear before court

Former director of Moldova's Security and Information Service (SIS) Artur Reshetnikov is ready to stand trial and prove his innocence as he considers he did not misuse his authority when he made statements for the film “Attack on Moldova” in which he appears as a protagonist, Info-Prim Neo reports. After quizzed by prosecutors in the case opened over the April events, Reshetnikov said he did not misuse his power when he accused the then Opposition of plotting a coup. He made the statement in response to Acting President Mihai Ghimpu's statement that he will ask by 1 million lei in damages from former senior officials for slander. “The present government solved already all the problems. The streets are clean and the living standards are high. We took loans from all those who could grant them. Everything is just fine. The only thing that should be yet done is for the Caretaker President Mihai Ghimpu to go and ask for money from former state functionaries,” Reshetnikov said ironically. “In the film, I accepted to reveal certain details within my area of competence and the law as those events were the focus of attention in Moldova and abroad,” the former SIS director said. He said he was ready to appear before court together with “the former Soviet Communist activist” Mihai Ghimpu, but received yet no citation and had heard about no related lawsuit. On September 25, 2009, the parliamentary coalition dismissed Artur Reshetnikov from the post of director of the Security and Information Service, arguing he made public accusations, especially during the election campaigns, against a number of persons, without respecting the presumption of innocence.