The behavior of the law enforcement bodies, protesters and the political class in the case of the withdrawal of the parliamentary immunity of the Liberal-Democratic leader Vlad Filat and his arrest made those who followed the developments on October 15 feel concerned and uncertain. The News Agency IPN aimed to shed some more light on those and the subsequent events in the public debate “Professionalism of law enforcement bodies, behavior of the political class and protesters in the case of annulment of immunity and arrest of MP Vlad Filat, the leader of the PLDM”, organized in partnership with Radio Moldova.
Lawyer Ion Dron, who heads the Center for Initiatives and Public Authorities Monitoring, said he felt fear when a group of people started the ‘hunt’ around the Parliament Building, saying they will not allow Vlad Filat to avoid responsibility. “I was frightened when police officers opened obediently the trunks and showed what they had there. I now do not feel safe as such persons can any time come to my home to search it, my car, etc. I’m afraid things derailed. The state bodies should have acted and shouldn’t have allowed such actions as the people of Renato Usatyi didn’t have the right to do so,” he stated.
Socialist MP Vlad Batrancea avoided commenting on the actions of Renato Usatyi, who staged the ‘hunt’ for Filat, promising a new car to the one who will arrest this. “It’s clear that the people are not satisfied and started to take to the streets to seek justice. There is no rule of law in Moldova now and the acts of the government stimulate these protests. The policies of the ruling alliance lead to the continuous impoverishment of the population. The exodus of people continues. The people want to be heard. They want those who are to blame to be held accountable. Even if we are the most corrupt country in Europe, no high-ranking official has been brought to justice over the last few years,” said the lawmaker, adding that the Socialists will not incite the people to violence.
Democratic lawmaker Sergiu Sarbu noted that if incidents happened on October 15 and some of the protesters defied the law, the police should intervene. “I don’t know if it was the case to use force. Why the police didn’t intervene is a good question. Maybe it is the syndrome of April 7, when the police didn’t intervene, but then became involved and resorted to abuses. A number of police officers and fewer protesters were held accountable afterward. Those who were now near the Parliament Building didn’t want the same fate. Any protest should take place exclusively peacefully, without intimidation and without forced entries into the public institutions, while the demands should be satisfied as a result of negotiations. Surely the government had what to learn from these protests. The initiated reforms will continue at a greater pace and we hope we will be supported in Parliament and a number of necessary laws will be adopted,” he said.
Igor Botan, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) and the permanent expert of the IPN project, said that after the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU and after five years of ‘success story’, everyone in Moldova should be happy. “But the situation is different. The state was captured by particular clans. Why should we be surprised at hunts for people and at having such parties if the state does not defend us and we must defend ourselves? We must obey the law and protest as conscious citizens, but this is not always possible. Society is as it is. The political culture in Moldova is passive and contemplative and starts to manifest itself in situations of acute crisis, when things can no longer be endured,” he stated.
The analyst added that a ‘hunt for people’ wasn’t necessary as the bodies that were to arrest Vlad Filat were interested in his arrest. “It was a political act. I don’t think that many people wanted to take part in that hunt. It is anyway condemnable and distressing. A public disapproval of such an act must follow so that society understands that something like this is not allowed,” he said.
The debate “Professionalism of law enforcement bodies, behavior of the political class and protesters in the case of annulment of immunity and arrest of MP Vlad Filat, the leader of the PLDM” is the 42nd installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” that are held with the support of the German foundation Hanns Seidel. Representatives of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group were also invited to the debate.
