Scandal over red scarfs in Balti

The chairman of the parliamentary commission for human rights and interethnic relations Vadim Misin and ombudswoman Tamara Plamadeala seek an investigation into the interrogation of a group of children in Balti. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the police commissioner of Balti Vasile Ganzei said the children were not interrogated, but questioned. They were included in a list of persons who were to receive presents from the City Hall, but have not yet got them. In a letter to Minister of the Interior Victor Catan, MP Vadim Misin says the commission he heads received a number of complaints about flagrant human rights violations committed by employees of the Balti police commissariat. “Children aged between 10 and 14 were invited to the police commissariat and asked about their political affiliation and their work as part of pioneer organizations,” Misin says in the letter. “This is a flagrant violation of the moral and ethical norms and of the legislation.” Chiril Motpan, the head of the Ministry of the Interior's press office, told Info-Prim Neo that the children started to be quizzed after the police received complaints that children from deprived families were to receive financial assistance and presents from the Balti City Hall in 2007, but did not get them. “The police asked those children if they received the presents. It is an absurdity to say that they were investigated because they are pioneers,” Chiril Motpan said.