Group of April 7 protesters claim they were recruited by anti-communist parties to foment violence

The Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the extinct Moldova Noastra Alliance are behind the 7 April 2009 protests which degenerated into violence and attacks against governmental buildings, according to a young man and a young woman who appeared on Thursday before reporters to “tell the truth” about the April events. Being directly involved in the protests, they claimed they had been instigated personally by Liberal vice-president Dorin Chirtoaca, Lib-Dem leader Vlad Filat and AMN leader Serafim Urecheanu to “shed blood” and thus trigger the so-called Twitter Revolution. Eugen Mocanu, a 24-year-old man who introduced himself as the leader of the National Nacist (sic) Association, alleged that the preparations for the protests started two weeks before April 7, at a camp in the suburban town of Vadul lui Voda, where about 1,500 youths were trained psychologically and physically to engage in rioting. They were given alcohol, marijuana and were paid 20 euros a day, according to Mocanu. “They took us to a leisure facility in Vadul lui Voda. They gave us joints and liquor. Three men from Romania taught us how to make Molotov cocktails. We were then rewarded by people in Bucharest. They wanted a big revolution, they wanted people to die so as to instil revolt among Moldovans”, said Eugen Mocanu. He claimed that Dorin Chirtoaca personally supplied the trainees with wine and Vlad Filat together with his aide provided them with drugs; as they were smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, they listened to lectures about the Romanian legionary movement, nationalism and so on, and Dorin Chirtoaca, Vlad Filat and Serafim Urecheanu would visit and talk to them almost every day. On April 7, the recruits acted as instigators, starting a shower of stones against police troops guarding the governmental buildings, says Mocanu. “I apologize to the policemen who we threw stones at. I'm very sorry”, said the young man. He went on to praise the then Communist government for its efforts to contain the violence. “The Communists didn't let a bloodshed to happen. They saved the future”. After the protests, Eugen Mocanu says that his and other young people's silence was bought with 2,000 lei. “But now I can't stay silent any longer. Even if I know that I can be thrown to jail, people deserve to know the truth”, he declared. Mocanu said that now he expected the politicians who were truly responsible for the April 2009 events to “tell the truth”. Otherwise, he and other young people will stage protests. Nina Caraman, a young woman who presented herself as deputy chairwoman of the People's Anti-communist Coalition, said the youth initially took to the streets in April 2009 because they were outraged by the provocations of the Voronin government against Romania. But now she sees that the youth had been lied to and that politicians used them to come to power. Three years on, the youth and entire society want to know the truth, said Nina Caraman. Before holding the press conference, Eugen Mocanu, Nina Caraman and other protesters sought protection from the nongovernmental organization “Moldova Mea”. None of the mentioned politicians was immediately available for comments.