The State Guard and Protection Service started to examine the October 21 incident when, according to witnesses, a resident of Ungheni town was maltreated by bodyguards of the Communist leader Vladimir Voronin during a meeting with voters, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a statement, the Service’s International and Public Relations Office says the institution opened an internal inquiry to determine the legality of the acts of the State Guard Service employees. “The State Guard and Protection Service is bewildered by such an incident as it aims to achieve its objectives without violating people’s rights,” reads the statement. Two parties took attitude towards the maltreatment of Anton Cotici. In a communiqué, the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) says Vladimir Voronin should be deprived of bodyguard at least for the period of the election campaign if he cannot control his guards or even orders that they deal with inconvenient persons. The party demands entrusting a group of employees of the Ministry of the Interior with the task of protecting the voters. The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova also condemned this case of use of violence and asked that the relevant bodies investigate it and hold the culprits accountable. Asked by Info-Prim Ne to comment, the Communists Party’s jurist Sergiu Sarbu denied the accusations, saying they are calumnies disseminated by parties that are losing popular support. He said the situation was different than the one described by the two parties. According to him, Anton Cotici was an instigator who aimed to destabilize the situation during the PCRM’s meeting with voters. Thus, he was taken out by employees of the State Guard Service who maintained public order. Voronin's bodyguard did not get involved.