Civic activist Gennady Ciorba, a former political prisoner, said the de facto Transnistrian administration that is supported by the Sheriff holding does not allow any criticism to be leveled at it and any attempt to tell the truth is thwarted, including by using the so-called “courts”. “Representatives of the business community who oppose the holding are also persecuted. Today the power in the Transnistrian region is based on the people’s fear of puppeteer Victor Gușan and his puppets. To further hold power, the current administration does everything to make the people be afraid of it,” Gennady Ciorba stated in a press conference hosted by IPN.
The civic activist said the cases of Oleg Horjan and Sergey Mirovici are an example of wrongdoings committed on the left side of the Nistru. The two got fabricated criminal cases because they dared to speak in public about these wrongdoings and gave names. Gennady Ciorba said he himself suffered because of the Transnistrian “justice”. Based on a fabricated case, he was held in jail for 13 months. “I was sentenced according to political articles - insulting of the president and public calls to extremist actions – to three years and three months in jail. However, following the prompt and harsh reaction of international organizations, by the judgment of the supreme court of the Transnistrian region, the imprisonment sentence was changed to suspended sentence,” stated the activist.
Vadim Krasnoselsky, the representative of the Sheriff holding, was elected “president” in 2016 and now aspires to a new term in office. “Sheriff is an oligarchic economic organization that monopolizes and almost subjugated the Transnistrian region. Until recently, the dubious schemes to supply ethyl alcohol, tobacco and food products and other were the only sources of income of this company. With enormous financial resources, this company is a source of corruption not only on the left side of the Nistru, but all over the Republic of Moldova. This endangers statehood in general,” stated Gennady Ciorba.
Civic activist Nadejda Bondarenco said that 30 years ago, the people could not even imagine what times will come, when factories will be destroyed, there will be no jobs and the gap between incomes and costs will be enormous. In the region, practically the whole power is in the hands of the Sheriff holding that started with the economic sphere and ended with politics.
Nadejda Bondarenco also said that Oleg Horjan, being the only opposition deputy in the so-called supreme soviet, was jailed based on a fabricated case. He always pleaded for separating business from politics, for eliminating monopolies and creating a healthy competition environment. But the holding eliminated all the inconvenient rivals, securing Krasnoselskys’ victory in the upcoming “presidential election“ set for December 12.
