Two ex-activists make sensational disclosures into Cubreacov’s kidnapping

Two former activists of the Christian-Democrat People’s Party (PPCD), Ion Neagu and Sergiu Burca, claim the abduction of MP Vlad Cubreacov, the vice president of the party, was staged by the Christian-Democrat leaders, who had him hidden in a house belonging to another Christian-Democrat MP, Valentina Serpul. Serpul denies the allegations. In an interview with Jurnal de Chisinau newspaper, Ion Neagu, former PPCD secretary general, and Sergiu Burca, ex-vice president of the party, confessed that they participated in planning the kidnapping in the office of the PPCD president, Iurie Rosca, on 21 March 2002. In their words, the plot had the purpose to discourage the authorities from initiating proceedings against the party leaders for public disorders during protest rallies, as well as to stimulate a large turnout for a protest meeting scheduled for March 31. In that period, Parliament voted to lift immunity from prosecution for several Christian-Democrat MPs. Neagu said it was Rosca’s idea to have someone disappear in order to distract the attention of the police and to incite people into gathering for protests against the government. In Neagu’s words, Rosca said he was not the right man for the job, because he had to lead the protests, so Cubreacov volunteered. The two former activists claim Vlad Cubreacov was held hidden in an apartment belonging to MP Valentina Serpul, located on 84 Ismail Street in Chisinau. After the meeting of March 31, Rosca reportedly said it was not the right time for Vlad Cubreacov to appear. Later in May he suggested “let’s make some money out of this”, and he meant one million dollars. Jurnal de Chisinau promises to publish in its Tuesday’s issue the second part of the interview with Sergiu Burca and Ion Neagu, revealing details about Iurie Rosca’s trip to Bucharest to get the money, whom he met with at Cotroceni Palace, if he actually got it, how Rosca sent Burca to visit Cubreacov in his hideaway and what secret paths he used to get there. Asked to comment on the accusations, Valentina Serpul denied everything, claiming it was some sort of retaliation for not willing to join the duo and leave the party. She also remarked that Neagu’s and Burca’s statements are totally opposite to the ones made in 2002 when they maintained they knew nothing. When asked why Rosca and Cubreacov do not attend Parliament’s sittings and do not answer the phone for comments, Serpul informed that they were busy preparing a party convention. Cubreacov disappeared on 21 March 2002 and was found a couple of months later near a village on the Nistru. Whereas the Christian-Democrats and Cubreacov himself maintain that the Russian secret services were behind the abduction, the authorities in Tiraspol claimed they had evidence proving President Voronin’s involvement.