National Archive to come into possession of cases of persons persecuted by Communists

The cases of the persons subjected to political repression might be transferred from the specialized institutions to the National Archive by this yearend. Representatives of the commission for studying the totalitarian Communist regime in Moldova say the National Archive will enable easier access to these cases. At the same time, the National Archive seeks space from the state as is does not have where to store these documents, Info-Prim Neo reports. The issue was discussed by representatives of the commission for studying the totalitarian Communist regime, the Security and Information Service, the Ministry of the Interior and of the Prosecutor General's Office in a meeting with Acting President Mihai Ghimpu on August 24. The commission's secretary Mihai Tasca said the transfer of the cases of the repressed and deported persons from the specialized institutions to a civil institution has not been discussed since 1990. Valentin Dediu, deputy head of the Security and Information Service, said the over 23,000 cases involving about 29,000 persecuted persons represent a special stock in the Service's archive. “We are ready to transmit these cases to the National Archive,” Valentin Dediu said, stressing other stocks of the Service are inaccessible to the public. The head of the Ministry of the Interior's Information Division Iurie Burca said the Ministry will provide these cases, adding the people have had access to them, but under stricter conditions. Petru Vicol, the director of the National Archive, said the institution he heads does not have enough room to store these cases. “The cases could be transferred to the archive of the sociopolitical organizations, or we should be provided with more rooms,” he said. Mihai Tasca said yet there is enough space at the National Archive as about 200,000 cases disappeared from this institution over time, including during the independence years.