The participants in the April 24 protest prepared themselves and knew that they will act violently, Minister of the Interior Alexandru Jizdan said in the talk show “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.
“On the eve of the protest, we had a meeting with some of the organizers. They knew that they will act violently. We did our utmost to convince them to act peacefully,” stated the minister.
Alexandru Jizdan said the police acted in accordance with the law when they arrested the four protesters. “The organizers of the protest said that these are not their men and they don’t know them and these are instigators on behalf of the police. If we hadn’t arrested them, other people would have made us to account for our actions. Moreover, we would have confirmed the suspicions that these were police officers. When somebody throws stones at you, you must riposte in accordance with the law,” he stated.
The minister denied the existence of tendencies to transform Moldova into a police state. “We do our job and are apolitical. We will defend any citizen, any home. There was a case when the police car was damaged. The fans of a football team got into a fight. When trying to calm these down, police officers were hit and the police car was destroyed. There are cases when the people attack us. Any violent person will be confronted by the system. The police will act harsher. We will not allow violations. The people behave brutally and tear away epaulets. The rise in fines is like a warning,” said Alexandru Jizdan.
