Ghimpu accused of decorating 'a bunch of terrorists'

The Russian Youth League and the Center for the Protection of Human Rights and Democracy are accusing acting President Mihai Ghimpu of decorating a “bunch of terrorists and assassins”, referring to Petru Godiac, Ilie Ilascu, Andrei Ivantoc, Alexandru Lesco, Tudor Popa and Stefan Uratu, who recently received the Republic's Order “in recognition of the courage shown in the struggle for Moldova's independence and territorial integrity”, Info-Prim Neo reports. The representatives of these organizations claimed at a news conference on Wednesday that the so-called Ilascu Group were professional killers who had carried out terrorist activity and military offenses in the Transnistrian region, an allegation for which the members of the Group had been detained in Transnistria; Ilascu himself had been sentenced to death. “According to the decree by the acting president, every citizen should now be grateful to the Ilascu group for their merits in defending the territorial integrity of Moldova. Today, when the people living on the eastern side of the Nistru say these men are terrorists, there can be no peace in our country”, said Igor Tuleantsev, the leader of the Russian Youth League. Presidential adviser Stefan Uratu, Knight of the Republic's Order, dismissed all the allegations made against the Ilascu Group. “This is a slandering campaign targeting us, which is still continuing. We intend to hold the criminal authorities in Tiraspol answerable for trumping up charges against these people, including myself, and for arresting us, and even detaining some of us for 15 years”, said Uratu. Ilie Ilascu and other activists for the Moldovan integrity were arrested by the separatist authorities in the early 90s in the wake of the armed conflict, then tried and imprisoned. After Ilascu's release in 2001, following international pressure on Russia and Transnistria, an application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights. In an extensive judgment pronounced in 2004, the Court ruled that the arrests and detention of the Group had been unlawful, finding that Russia had been also responsible.