Two Romanian citizens employed by PLDM, expelled from Moldova

Two Romanian citizens employed by the technical staff of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) were expelled Tuesday from Moldova. The PLDM calls the actions of the Moldovan police and the judiciary as “illegal” and “abusive” and says it will appeal the case, Info-Prim Neo reports. PLDM president Vlad Filat told a news conference on Wednesday that the two Romanians, Razvan Cazacu and Radu Popescu, being legally in Moldova, were held up Monday evening and spent the night in the Buiucani district police commissariat. The next day, the Buiucani court decided to oust them from Moldova. According to the PLDM deputy president, lawyer Alexandru Tanase, the men entered a store. When getting out, people in civil clothing approached them and forced them to enter a car, accusing them of having stolen goods from the store. Later they were told they allegedly had stolen a mobile phone, then – that a group of retirees complained they would have disturbed the public order, and finally they were charged for opposing the police. “The court heard two witnesses, who confirmed the police's statements were false. However the judge decided to expel the Romanian citizens,” Tanase said. Although the Buicani court's decision may be appealed within 10 days, Cazacu and Popescu were expelled the same evening . Alexandru Tanase says their lawyers agreed with the police in order to ensure their safety. “Otherwise they would have spent those 10 days locked up,” Tanase explained. The PLDM says it will anyway appeal the decision up to the European Court of Human Rights. The PLDM qualifies the arrest and expulsion of the two Romanian citizens as illegal and abusive, targeted against the rights and freedoms of the European citizens and as having electoral background. The PLDM says it will withdraw Ion Chitoaroaga from its list for the parliament (position 56), after he attacked journalists at a rally on March 22. Chitoroaga will also be fired from all the offices he holds in the party.