One person detained following protests in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 18 September /MOLDPRES/ - A man aged 50 years has been detained by the police after he entered a crowd while driving his car during protests nearby the headquarters of the Moldova 1 public television on 17 September. The deputy head of the General Police Inspectorate (IGP), Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, made statements to this effect at a news conference today.       

According to Cavcaliuc, in the wake of the incident, the law-enforcers detained both the owner of the mini-bus and the driver at the wheel of the vehicle. “The persons detained will be heard and it is to be established whether they have been previously convicted. We know that the owner of the mini-bus has status of defendant in a file for the use of violence against policemen at the protest from 24 April 2016. More actions of criminal prosecution are to be undertaken against those two persons,” Cavcaliuc said.    

According to the IGP deputy head, “four policemen suffered in the wake of the last Sunday protests. Three of them need medical care, after a mini-bus entered a crowd and moved towards a cordon made by law-enforcers’ representatives and another policeman would have needed medical assistance, after he had been hit in the head with an object,” Gheorghe Cavcaliuc noted.  

Cavcaliuc specified that, if found guilty, the mini-bus driver runs the risk of being sentenced to 4-8 years of imprisonment.  

At the same time, decision-makers found out that the transport means belonged to a 43-year-old man from the Bubuieci village, Chisinau municipality. He was imposed a fine worth 4,000 lei and three penalty points and the mini-bus was raised a corpus delicti.   

On 17 September, representatives of the civil society and opposition parties participated in a protest against the change of the electoral system outside the parliament building. Subsequently, demonstrators picketed the building of the Moldova 1 television.   

(Reporter A. Zara, editor L. Alcaza)