More and more cases of infringements of the freedom of assembly are registered in Moldova – Amnesty International

Recently, in the R. Moldova, an increased number of cases of infringement of the freedom of assembly have been registered, Evghenii Golosceapov, executive director of Amnesty International Moldova (AIM) said on Wednesday, September 13. According to the cited source, one can get the impression that the representatives of the police are not driven by the existing legislation, but by their own personal beliefs. Golosceapov offered, as an example in this respect, a case that took place on August 31, when AIM, in partnership with other NGOs, conducted the public action “Stop the violence against women”. During the action, the representatives of the police requested that the GenderDoc-M organization remove their posted banner, motivating that by saying that the respective organization is “promoting a homosexual lifestyle”. Upon the refusal of the AIM, the policemen threatened them saying that its members would have problems in obtaining authorization for similar actions, added Golosceapov. Also, the policemen that were meant to ensure that the public order would be respected were removed from their positions. The cited source mentioned that, according to article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the state is obliged to ensure the security of the participants and organizers of public actions, regardless of the agreement or the disagreement of the majority of the population or of the police forces. In the same order of thoughts, Golosceapov also talked about the arrest of 9 members of the Hyde Park organization during a protest, and about the refusal of the Chisinau City Hall, in April, to authorize a gay parade in Chisinau. Amnesty International Moldova was created in 1993.