Nicolae Radita: Plugaru uses KGB-like methods and impostor Romanies

The chairman of the National Roma Center Nicolae Radita denies the accusations of former Security Minister Anatol Plugaru and says that the latter uses KGB-like methods to influence the Romanies, Info-Prim Neo reports. Nicolae Radita has been in litigation with Anatol Plugaru since 2010. He accused Plugaru of discriminating against the Roma when saying that the ruling alliance does like the Romanies – instead of washing their children, they prefer to give birth to another child. On Tuesday, Anatol Plugaru and a number of representatives of the Roma community gave a news conference, accusing Radita of wanting to make money using the Roma. They said that the expression used by Plugaru was just a saying. “If they feel dirty, it is their choice to feel so. I personally felt offended. I’m not obliged to share the same values with all the Romanies,” the chairman of the National Roma Center said in a news conference on Wednesday. “Everybody has the right to go to court and I do not have to consult them. I assure you that there are persons who were offended by Plugaru’s statements.” In the same news conference, independent human rights expert Evghenii Goloshcheapov said that there are two elements to which attention should be drawn. “The ethnic origin was mentioned in the sentence said by Plugaru. The second element is that the sentence shows lack of respect towards an ethnic group. This is an old saying, but the problem resides in the context in which it was used, not in its content. Plugaru spoke about Romanies, not politicians and it was racist discrimination,” he stated. The first court obliged the former minister to apologize publicly and to pay 30,000 lei damages to the plaintiff, but the decision was appealed to a higher court. The case is now examined by the Court of Appeals.