The rectors of the Chisinau universities deny having been ordered by the authorities to expel the students that took part in the protests against the results of the April 5 elections in downtown Chisinau. Municipal councilor Oleg Cernei said Wednesday in the Great National Assembly Square that the rectors were called to the Government by President Vladimir Voronin and ordered to expel the students that did not attend the classes. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the Government’s press service denied the information. Ion Gutu, the rector of the State Pedagogical University “Ion Creanga” in Chisinau, also denied Cernei’s assertions, saying the information was just a rumor. He also said that the lecturers strictly call the register, as until present. “How can we expel a student that missed one or two classes? The students are punished according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education, when they have a large number of absences. Certainly, we do not encourage absences, but these students have the right to free expression,” Ion Gutu said. Grigore Belostecinic, the rector of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Moldova, and Igor Enicov, the first pro-rector of the State University of Moldova, said that there will be no expulsions. “The students of the Technical University of Moldova participated in the protest, but I saw no one among the young persons that devastated the buildings. In general, the devastators do not seem students,” said Petru Todos, first pro-rector at the Technical University of Moldova. “We cannot expel or punish them somehow. The ministerial regulations provide for no punishments in such cases,” Todos said. According to organizers, about 15,000 young persons, including a large number of students, took part in the April 6 protest, when the buildings of the Parliament and Presidential Office were devastated.