Human rights NGOs make appeal to Vladimir Voronin

A number of Moldovan public organizations demand that outgoing President Vladimir Voronin resign from all the public posts he holds and withdraw from the political arena, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Mister President, we understand that we ask you to take an important step, but if you really care about the destiny of this state and people, as you often state, you will take this step and hand over to the new generation that is capable of overcoming the crisis and of promoting the European values,” reads the appeal letter made public at a news conference on Thursday. “In December 1999, during the political crisis in Russia, President Boris Yeltsin made such a gesture of honor and dignity and will remain in the world history as an eminent political personality,” said Victor Catan, president of the International Association of Law Enforcement Officers. “We see that after the April 7 events, the people are being scared and they are afraid to express their opinions. We are concerned about this and warn the authorities not to play with fire,” said Valeriu Troenco, who had been Deputy Minister of Justice between 1999 and 2001 and is a member of a number of NGOs. According to Troenco, the April 7 events were organized by the current government and this is proven by the lack of evidence against the Opposition. “The films shown often on the TV channels loyal to the power aim to divide the society into ‘ours’ and ‘yours’,” he said. CHDOM president Stefan Uratu, one of the signatories of the letter and an independent candidate in the April 5 elections, said that he will run in the early elections, but has not yet decided in what form – as independent, member of a party or monitor. The letter to Vladimir Voronin was signed by the International Association of Law Enforcement Officers, the National Union of Independence War Veterans, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Moldova (CHDOM), the Bar Association of Moldova, the Humanitarian Law Association, the Public Association “Avia-Natura”, the Public Organization “Forestry Progress”, war veterans and knights of different orders.