April violence victims commemorated in Chisinau

Ordinary people as well politicians, governmental officials and civil society representatives came together on Wednesday evening in central Chisinau to lit candles in memory of the victims of the violent protests that took place in April, Info-Prim Neo reports. The rally was organized by an initiative group called “Impotriva torturii” (“Against Torture”), to mark six months since the protests, which left at least 4 young protesters dead and many other abused in police custody. Attending the rally, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said the Interiors Ministry has initiated an internal investigation into the violent response by the police. “I am not a judge to tell who is to blame and for what. The investigation is to clearly establish this”, he said, adding a parliamentary commission will carry out a separate investigation with the involvement of foreign experts from the European Commission and the Council of Europe, whose aim will be to find out who exactly stage-managed the violence and bring them to justice. Valentina Cusnir, a leader of the initiative group Against Torture, said “I am a witness of those events and simultaneously a victim, because, being a member of parliament at that time, I was intentionally beaten by high-ranking policemen”. “I know it will be difficult, but time will show and will tell the truth”, said Victor Boboc, the father of one of the young protesters who died at the hands of police. Parascovia Topada, the chairwoman of the outspoken NGO Hyde Park, stated that the organizer of the violence was the communist regime. The demonstrators spelled out the word Dreptate (Justice) with lit candles. Thousands of protesters, mostly young, protested what they claimed to be a rigged outcome of the parliamentary elections. At least four demonstrators were killed and many other were beaten and tortured.