The Romany people feel sexier after former security minister Anatol Plugaru said the Romanies, instead of washing their children, prefer to give birth to another child, Mihai Lepadatu, a representative of the Roma Civil Society said in a news conference, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Mihai Lepadatu said the Roma are indignant that Nicolae Radita, the head of the National Roma Center, did not convene a general meeting before suing Anatol Plugaru for using this saying. “We discussed with the Roma from all the country’s districts and reached a consensus – what Anatol Plugaru said on TV was an old saying. We all use saying and not in order to discriminate against somebody. Some of the boys even started to laugh and said they feel sexier now,” said Mihai Lepadatu. He also said that they invited Nicolae Radita to come to discussions, but he reused. “It’s a pity that Radita did not attend. It is a great minus for him,” stated Mihai Lepadatu. Anatol Plugaru said that Nicolae Radita’s deeds were dictated by certain political forces, but he did not give names. “It is probably a method whereby they try to shut me up for my critical attitude towards the current government. He is supported by a number of nongovernmental organizations that receive money from abroad and try to divide society,” he said. According to Plugaru, the court decision by which he was obliged to apologize publicly and pay 30,000 lei damages to the plaintiff was influenced. The former minister said no conclusive evidence was provided to prove that he caused moral damage to Nicolae Radita. The Riscani district court passed its decision on December 28, 2011, but it was appealed to the Court of Appeals. In a news conference in 2010, Anatol Plugaru said the Alliance for European Integration behaves like the Roma - instead of washing their children, prefer to give birth to another child. He thus became the first public person in Moldova, who was held accountable for making racist statements against the Roma ethnic group.