On April 7, 2009, the young people were the compass of the society as they showed the course that Moldova must follow. They are not responsible for the devastation of the Parliament Building and the Presidential Office. Related statements were made by political leaders at the commemorative meeting held in the square in front of the Parliament on April 7, Info-Prim Neo reports. Head of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu, Acting President and the leader of the Liberal Party (PL), said he regrets that the former Government has not yet realized that the people had the right to protest on April 7, 2009. “Instead of coming in front of the young people to talk to them, they stayed inside buildings until the darkness fell. Then they came out with cudgels and arms to scatter those who protested peacefully,” Mihai Ghimpu said. “Only the cowards use force. I condemn the devastation of the two buildings. Time will come and we will find out who the real instigators are.” The first Deputy Speaker of Parliament Serafim Urecheanu, the leader of the Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN), said only the former head of state Vladimir Voronin is to blame for the tragic events that happened a year ago. “He went abroad now as he is afraid of this people. We must do everything possible for this octopus that sucked the blood out of this people during eight years to stop hindering Moldova from making progress on the path to European integration,” Urecheanu said. Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), considers that even if tragic, the April 2009 events laid the foundation of a new beginning. “The division of the society into “ours” and enemies was the most serious crime committed by the Soviet militiaman Voronin as he made us fight against each other,” Filat said. He announced that the Freedom Monument in memory of the April 2009 events will be unveiled in the square of the Parliament in a year. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca, the vice president of the PL, said homage should be paid to the young people who took to the streets a year ago to defend democracy. “The society must be grateful to them, while the Communists Party who was ruling the country then must answer for what they did,” he said. Students Radu Banari and Nicolae Barohtaru, who took part in the protests last April, said they went out to fight for freedom, but did not think they will be taken to police stations and maltreated and tortured there. “We went to the central square with a clean heart, but were tortured and banned from expressing our opinions,” said one of them. The model of the Freedom Monument was presented during the meeting. Its author Tudor Cataraga said it will be the only urban monument in the country. It represents an oblique cross consisting of 12 panels made from black metal.