Candidate for MP on behalf of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) Petru Frunze denies the accusations made against him by Gheorghe Toma, an inhabitant of Puhoi village of Ialoveni district, who said that Frunze attacked and blackmailed him. Contacted by IPN for a comment, Petru Frunze said that he didn’t use violence against anyone. He was neither suspect nor accused and hasn’t been fined or punished in another way.

The candidate said that he has no connection with this case. He was only a guarantor as Ghenadie Bârcă from Puhoi was to pay for the treatment of the aggressed man, Gheorghe Toma, after the two had a fight in front of the local discothèque. “I didn’t have any connection. I only guaranteed that Ghenadie Bârcă will cover the treatment costs,” the PAS MP stated for IPN.

He also said that in 2019, when a news portal published information about the fight, he went to the Prosecutor’s Office. The materials of the case show that Ghenadie Bârcă beat Gheorghe Toma in 2006. His name is not mentioned. Then, the news portal issued a press release by which this apologized to Petru Frunze for publishing calumnious information.

Petru Frunze also said that Gheorghe Toma is an activist of the Party of Socialists, while the accusations were made in connection with the election campaign. “As there is an election campaign now and the Party of Socialists does not know how else to motivate its members, it tries to disseminate such ideas. In the campaign prior to the presidential elections, this person, Gheorghe Toma, distributed electoral materials alongside the PSRM’s team in each settlement. He is an activist of the Party of Socialists,” stated Petru Frunze.

In a press briefing at IPN, Gheorghe Toma related that in 2006, he was attacked by Petru Frunze and another villager, Ghenadie Bârcă. He said he wants justice to be done to him and he does not want Petru Frunze to become an MP as he is afraid of what can follow.