Former head of state and former SIS director to be questioned over April events

The former President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin and the former director of the Security and Information Service (SIS) Artur Reshetnikov will be questioned by the prosecutors in the cases opened over the April 2009 events, Info-Prim Neo reports. The information was made public after the questioning of the former police commissioner of Chisinau Vladimir Botnari on Tuesday evening. Vladimir Botnari was questioned by prosecutor Sergiu Rosu, being suspected of misconduct in office during the April events. After the meeting with the prosecutor, Botnari told the reporters that he has enough evidence to prove his innocence. At the same time, the prosecutors say an arrest warrant could be issued against him. “On April 7, the Ministry of the Interior gave only one order – to allow the people to protest peacefully, not to incite the crowd and not to use special means and force. I told the prosecutor who questioned me that I'm not guilty and I will provide evidence to prove this,” Botnari said. Botnari also said that the protests started peacefully, but later neither the organizers nor the police could calm the crowd down. Asked by the journalists what happened in the police commissariats on April 7 and 8, 2009, the former commissioner said the police officers tried to establish the circumstances and there is no court decision showing that those detained were ill-treated. “When such decisions are passed, the persons that mistreated the protesters will be held accountable,” Botnari said. Sergiu Garabagiu, the head of the Prosecution Division of the Prosecutor General's Office, said no arrest warrants were issued against Vladimir Botnari and Gheorghe Papuc (the former Minister of the Interior) for the time being, but such a possibility is not excluded. They are suspected of misconduct in office and are now questioned, he said. Sergiu Garabagiu stressed that all the persons involved in the April events will be questioned, including the former head of state Vladimir Voronin. “The case is very complicated, but the investigation will be objective. We hope the case will be closed in less than a year. New names appear after every questioning. After interrogating Gheorghe Papuc, we decided to summons Vladimir Voronin and the former SIS head Artur Reshetnikov. “ Recently, Prosecutor General Valeriu Zubko ordered creating a working group for the investigation of the legal cases opened against the former Minister of the Interior Gheorghe Papuc and former police commissioner of Chisinau Vladimir Botnari. The working group consists of three prosecutors of the Prosecution Division of the Prosecutor General's Office - Sergiu Rosu, Corneliu Bratunov and Vlad Mosneaga.