Vorniceni villagers again picket Parliament asking to free their mayor

The Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) faction and villagers from Vorniceni, Straseni district, have picketed the Parliament again, demanding to set free their mayor Gheorghe Ionel. “The Vorniceni mayor is seriously upsetting the Communists, because he is a strong man,” Veaceslav Untila, the first deputy president of AMN, stated. Gheorghe Ionel was arrested under suspicion of being involved in trafficking in humans, but he was released half a year later and declared innocent. Later he was arrested again under the pretext of power abuse. “The Communists cannot get accustomed with the thought that they have lost, and now hold the power in only 11 districts of 33,” the parliamentary mentioned. The president of Straseni district, Nicolae Robu, has underlined they (police) used a scenario tested already on the ones not supporting the Communists and speaking about their abuses. “Gheorghe Ionel opposed not only the local Communists, he actually opposed the Government's policy and fought to defend his fellow villagers. And such a thing is not going to be forgiven (by Communists – e.n.),” the district president said. It's not the only case when local officials members of the AMN are penally probed for power abuse, MP Gheorghe Susarenco said. “Moldova becomes a police state more and more, ruled by Soviet-type general named numele Vladimir Voronin,” he stated. A group of villagers from Vorniceni also protested last Thursday, October 23, in front of the Parliament's building, asking for setting free mayor Gheorghe Ionel. The villagers say the case on the AMN mayor, suspected of corruption, was fabricated on commission, and probing him in custody is illegal. The police arrested the mayor on September 3.