Brothers Gheorghe, Anatol and Sergiu Stepuleac, who were accused of organizing the April 7 violent protests, sued the Ministry of the Interior for slander, Info-Prim Neo reports. Anatol Stepuleac’s lawyer Ana Ursachi told a news conference on Friday that after the events that happened early in April, the brothers were criticized in the media and labeled as ‘criminal group’ or ‘notorious recidivists’. According to the lawyer, the Ministry of the Interior was the source of this information. Therefore, the Stepuleac brothers demanded that the newspapers publish denials and sued the Ministry. The brothers also demand that the Ministry of the Interior apologize publicly, pay damages and deny the information. “We have not yet determined the value of damages as the public apologies are more important,” Ana Ursachi said. The lawyers for the Stepuleac brothers say that there are no legal reasons to name the brothers recidivists or members of a criminal group because none of them has a criminal record and they are not investigated in a joint case, “The legal cases opened against Gheorghe and Anatol Stepuleac were later closed, while Sergiu Stepuleac had no case in court,” said Angela Balan, lawyer for Sergiu Stepuleac. Earlier, the three brothers that were arrested after the April 7 protests and accused of usurpation of state power and organization of public disorder complained to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Court decided to examine their case as an emergency. The brothers plead not guilty. “We are not the persons that they say. We have no connection with the crime and have never been in conflict with the law. We are all former employees of security bodies and cannot afford to take steps to cause disorder in this state,” Anatol Stepuleac said. The Government is to give an answer to the ECHR on this case by July 1. The Court could pass judgment in the case by this yearend. Gheorghe Stepuleac is the former owner of the security company “Tantal”. Five years ago, he and his brothers were arrested, accused of blackmail. The company was closed after the authorities withdrew its license. The ECHR ruled then that Stepuleac was arrested abusively as there were no proofs showing that he committed the alleged offences.