Peaceful rally attacked in Chisinau

A group of peaceful protesters, mainly NGO representatives, who gathered on Tuesday outside the General Prosecutor's Office found themselves attacked by several men wearing masks, who threw punches and used pepper spray on the demonstrators. Several persons received minor injuries in the brief assault, Info-Prim Neo reports. The demonstrators -- among whom the businessman Anatol Matasaru, famed for his theatrical displays and who again appeared today dressed as a pig -- were protesting against the Moldovan authorities, which, according to Amnesty International Moldova's director Yevgeni Goloschapov, are continuing to obstruct and deter peaceful assemblies, despite the safeguards provided by the recent Law on Assemblies. The protesters wore pink ribbons, supposed to be a blend of red an white -- “white is what we strive for, that is, freedom, and red means suppression of freedom”, said the chairman of the Helsinki Committee in Moldova, Stefan Uratu, one of the organizers, who also suffered light injuries. “When I saw Stefan Uratu being shoved, I tried to step in and break it up, but the attacker sprayed me in the face and punched me hard in the eye”, complained Helsinki Committee member Mihai Cibotari. Witnesses say the police failed to appear at the scene and that one of the assaulters, who was captured by the demostrators, allegedly confessed that he had been hired by a nameless person to do that. “We were told to come here and defend the Republic of Moldova. They gave us money, 1,000 lei, and asked to come here”, he said in the presence of reporters. Stefan Uratu believes the General Prosecutor's Office itself together with the Ministry of Interiors are behind the attack. “They think this is how they will put an end to the protests, but they don't understand that these are irresponsible actions that can cause outrage. When one man is protesting, they find a dozen of policemen to guard him, but when a group is protesting, there is no one near”, said Uratu, referring to Anatol Matasaru's case, when he was prevented from protesting several days ago by a number of policemen. “The law enforcement bodies should make sure that the public manifestations run normally, and if they don't do that, they break the law”, said Sergiu Ostaf, the director of the Human Rights Resource Center CReDO. The organizers filed a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Interiors in a bid to identify the assaulters and have them punished. The Chisinau City Hall has condemned the violence against the peaceful demonstrators. “We consider the use of tear gas against peaceful protesters to be a serious offense and the guilty persons must be held accountable according to the law”, the City Hall said in a release. It also accused the municipal police of failing to intervene. The protest was organized by Amnesty International Moldova, the Helsinki Committee in Moldova, CreDO, Hyde Park Association, the Independent Press Association, the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims “Memoria”, the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, the Moldovan Institute for Human Rights, the Promo-Lex Association. Following a similar demonstration in December, a top police official called the organizers “the dregs of society”.