Filat to request police officer's release from Transnistrian prison

Prime Minister Vlad Filat will request the administration in Tiraspol to release Alexandru Ursu, a police officer from a village located on the western bank of the Nistru who was sentenced in 2010 to 15 years in a Transnistrian prison. The Government said in a press release that Vlad Filat met on Wednesday with Alexandru Ursu's family. His wife and father told the Prime Minister that they haven't seen Alexandru for more than three months and they haven't heard anything about his health. Attending the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Eugen Carpov said that following the intervention of the Moldovan authorities and international partners, the sentence was reduced in half, and more actions will follow. Vlad Filat instructed the Reintegration Bureau to urgently present materials with all the arguments necessary for Alexandru Ursu's release. “I ask you to have confidence. I will do everything in my power to secure Alexandru's release”, promised Filat. Alexandru Ursu was arrested in 2009 on allegations that he used fraud to buy an apartment in Bender town. Promo-LEX, a prominent human rights group specialized in monitoring human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, said Ursu was arrested on trumped-up charges – it was particularly suspicious that the Transnistrian officer who investigated the case is also the current occupant of the disputed apartment –, and was subsequently denied a fair trial. Poor detention conditions are said to further violate Ursu's rights.