Dorin Chirtoaca asks Prosecutor’s Office to probe police’s actions of December 24 and 25

The Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chisinau submitted an application to the caretaker prosecutor Ion Vicol demanding that the actions taken by the municipal police on December 24 and 25, 2007, which were not in compliance with local authorities’ instructions, be investigated, Info-Prim Neo reports making reference to the Chisinau City Hall’s Public Relations Division. According to the mayor, the police employees did not fulfill their duties, endangering thus the safety of the persons that took part in the Christmas festivities organised in front of the City Hall. The mayor general says that by the actions taken, the police infringed several articles of the Penal Code of Moldova. He asked the prosecution bodies to establish the persons to blame and punish them according to the law. On February 11 in the morning, Dorin Chirtoaca gave testimony at the municipal Prosecutor’s Office over the orders given on December 18 and 25, 2007 concerning the organisation of cultural-artistic events dedicated to the winter holidays. The mayor was summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office at the request of the police, which accuse the local public authorities of not consulting them when ordering to install the Christmas tree in front of the Chisinau City Hall and to suspend the traffic along Vlaicu Parcalab Street. According to Dorin Chirtoaca, the orders were issued legally and the subdivisions were entrusted with the tasks to make sure that they are fulfilled, the police being obliged to maintain the public order and to guard the Christmas tree. The Chisinau authorities inaugurated an official Christmas tree in front of the City Hall building on December 24. The same tree was erected on December 9 in Chisinau’s main square, but, as the local authorities alleged, the evergreen was displaced by the police in the course of that night. The next day, the police and the intelligence service opposed categorically a new attempt of the local authorities to move the tree back where it stood.