Ombudswoman defends rights of Palanca residents

Ombudswoman Tamara Plamadeala is concerned about the violations of the rights to freedom of movement and to property occurring in the village of Palanca, Stefan Voda district, near the border with Ukraine, Info-Prim Neo reports. Tamara Plamadeala told a news conference on Friday people in Palanca are complaining that they are denied access to the land plots they own near a segment of road concessioned to Ukraine. “It is very upsetting and beyond understanding that it's not the Ukrainian border guards, but the Moldovan Border Guards Service which is barring those people from reaching their plots”, says the ombudswoman. “I demanded explanations and the intervention of Prime Minister Filat to elucidate the situation. It's true, there was an immediate reaction, and the border guards retreated, but only to come back a couple of days later”, says Plamadeala. Plamadeala added she appealed for help to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and hoped the situation would be soon solved. The ombudswoman recalled that she filed an application with the Constitutional Court of Moldova one month ago, saying the concession granted to Ukraine infringed the right to freedom of movement of the Palanca residents. “Enough time has passed since for us to be notified at least whether that application is admissible or not”, said Tamara Plamadeala.