A number of persons gathered Wednesday in front of the building of the Ministry of the Interior, demanding that the institution’s personnel should resign. They protested against the abuses by the police. On October 18, a police officer forced a young woman to get onto a private car without providing explanations, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We are very angry and revolted at the way that an employee of the Ministry of the Interior and a public servant behaved yesterday towards a young female student in a police state. This is mafia in epaulettes. If people are abducted in the middle of the day, what should we expect at night when there are no video cameras and witnesses?” asked Oleg Brega, one of the protesters, who is a member of the NGO Hyde Park. He said that in a state of law such abuses are followed by dismissals. “If not the minister, at least the commissioner of Buiucani or the chief police officer of Durlesti (who forced the girl into the car – e.n.) should be discharged. If nothing of the kind happens, the entire personnel of the Ministry should resign,” said Oleg Brega. According to the Ministry’s spokesman Eugeniu Onica, the girl is suspected of theft. She allegedly stole a wallet with €700 inside from the owner of the car by which she was taken to the Buiucani police commissariat. The theft was reported to the police on October 18. It was established that the woman with whom the victim got acquitted one day earlier was the only one who had access to the car. Eugeniu Onica said that in order to establish all the circumstances of the case and arrest the suspect, the chief police officer of Durlesti went to the State University of Moldova, where the young woman studied, together with the victim. “The officer presented himself and told her why she was being arrested. She was asked to get into the car as she was to be questioned at the Buiucani police commissariat. But the person did not want to present an identification paper and refused to go to the police station. She had an aggressive behavior. Under article 433 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the person can be detained if he/she cannot be identified, if all the identification measures were taken,” said Eugeniu Onica. He also said that the Ministry opened an internal inquiry to establish the legality of the actions of the police officer and the involvement of the man in civvies who took part in the arrest. The report by the police officer who arrested the young woman and the complaint of the man who was robbed are examined to see if it is necessary to start a legal case. The girl was released the same day.