Commissioner of Ciocana district says Deputy Minister Andrei Shumleanski ordered him to withdraw police officers from Parliament Building

The commissioner of Ciocana district Corneliu Groza, in a hearing on the case involving Generals Papuc and Botnari, said on April 7, 2009 he was ordered to withdraw the police officers from the Parliament Building by Deputy Minister of the Interior Andrei Shumleanski. Earlier, during the investigation, Groza said the order was given by former Commissioner of Chisinau Vladimir Botnari, Info-Prim Neo reports. “When we were inside the Parliament Building, the protesters started to throw stones at us. It was smoke on the first floor. Deputy Minister of the Interior Andrei Shumleanski ordered that we pull back over the radio. I received many orders then and mixed things up. It wasn't Vladimir Botnari who gave that order,” Corneliu Groza explained to the judge. He also said the students of the Police Academy were the first to leave the building. They were followed by employees of the Buiucani and Ciocana police commissariats and of the Scut regiment. Corneliu Groza stated that he received most of the orders on April 7 from Valentin Zubic, who was then chief of the municipal police and deputy commissioner of Chisinau. Similar statements were made by the other witnesses in the trial. The current commissioner of Cimislia district Pavel Voicu, who was commissioner of Botanica district in April 2009, said in the morning of April 7, 2009, Valentin Zubic lined up all the subdivisions and instructed the police officers what they should do. The questioning of witnesses will continue on September 15.