Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHISINAU301
2009-04-13 14:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Chisinau
Cable title:  

SOME 10,000 GATHER FOR PEACEFUL

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM MD 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8491
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0301/01 1031459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131459Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7884
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHISINAU 000301 

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM MD
SUBJECT: SOME 10,000 GATHER FOR PEACEFUL
OPPOSITION PROTEST Q Weekend April 11-12 Sitrep

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Protect
Accordingly.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHISINAU 000301

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM MD
SUBJECT: SOME 10,000 GATHER FOR PEACEFUL
OPPOSITION PROTEST Q Weekend April 11-12 Sitrep

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Protect
Accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: On Sunday April 12 an estimated
7-10,000 people gathered for a peaceful
demonstration in support of the opposition. The
demands have largely shifted from the initial
elections-related demands to concerns for the
well-being of those arrested in connection with
the violent April 7 demonstrations that damaged
the Parliament and Presidency buildings. One 23-
year old was reported to have died in police
custody from beatings, and there are numerous
reports of police brutality. The Ambassador
signed a statement along with EU Ambassadors
expressing concern about reports of ill treatment
of detainees. The Constitutional Court ruled on
April 12 that the Central Election Commission
(CEC) has nine days (including Sunday) to carry
out a recount. This recount also includes an
examination of voter lists as demanded by the
opposition. End Summary.

Peaceful Sunday Demonstration Draws Thousands
--------------


2. (SBU) An estimated 7-10,000 people gathered
Sunday April 12 for a demonstration organized by
the three main opposition parties. Many of the
people (about one-sixth of the crowd) were
carrying flowers or branches, which was partially
related to the fact that Sunday was Orthodox Palm
Sunday and also because the organizers urged
participants to bring flowers as a sign of their
peaceful intentions. People with white scarves
around their necks were scattered through the
group, to help, to answer questions and to ensure
that the event stayed peaceful. As compared with
April 7's demonstration, which was predominantly
youth, Sunday's group was predominantly adults and
a scattering of young families with children.
They assembled peacefully, listened peacefully to
the speeches, and disbursed in a rapid and orderly
fashion when the event was declared to have
finished.


3. (SBU) The demonstration speeches concluded
after three hours with the adoption of a joint
declaration. This official joint declaration,
which had been adopted by the three main
opposition leaders Chirtoaca, Filat and Urechean,
was then adopted unanimously by the crowd by
raising hands. The declaration blamed President
Voronin, Speaker Lupu and Prime Minsiter Greceanii

for having installed a criminal regime and called
upon them to stop arresting and torturing
citizens. The declaration called upon them to
release the "children" arrested, and provide
information about those who had disappeared whose
names were not on the lists. The declaration
called upon the U.S. and the EU to come to their
assistance and support stopping the arrests and
torture. With the adoption of this declaration
the demonstration was declared to have ended.


4. (U) During the demonstration, the main
opposition leaders all spoke. Liberal Democrat
(PLDM) leader Vlad Filat accused President Voronin
of trying to drive a wedge between Moldova and
Europe. He spoke at length about the arrests and
beatings of "children" in custody, accusing the
government of beating these "children" to death.
A reporter from Jurnal de Chisinau addressed the
crowd saying that journalists are in fear, as
newspaper people have been arrested, and he
announced that they have requested the U.S.
Embassy to grant asylum. Liberal Party (PL)
leader Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca's speech said that
this was the first demonstration organized by
opposition political parties, thus making clear
the difference between Sunday's events and April

7. He also stated that one 23-year old died as a
result of police beatings.

Opposition Leaders Discuss Arrests with Ambassador
-------------- --------------

5. (SBU) Opposition leaders Chirtoaca, Filat and
Urechean requested an urgent meeting with the

CHISINAU 00000301 002 OF 003


Ambassador on Saturday April 11. They reported
that some 200 youth were now under arrest and
being held under terrible conditions. They were
concerned that many of the youth had been beaten
or tortured, and asked the Ambassador to try to
intervene. Earlier in the day they had met with
the EU Ambassadors to make the same request. They
also held a press conference in which they said
that the arrested youth were "being forced to
testify that politicians paid them money in order
to participate in rallies". Filat said that many
of the relatives of those arrested do not know
where they are, are not allowed to speak to
lawyers, while judges come to police commissariats
to issue arrest warrants." The leader of the
Moldova Noastra Alliance, Serafim Urechean, called
those arrested "political prisoners of the
Communist dictatorship."

One Arrested Participant Reported Dead from
Beatings
-------------- --------------
--

5. (U) Infotag and other media report that a 23-
year-old youth, Valeriu Boboc, who took part in
the mass protest rallies in the centre of Chisinau
on April 7-8, died. The parents said they took
Valeriu's body, full of bruises, from the morgue
on Sunday April 12. Valeriu was married and has a
one-and-a-half year old baby. The news reports
quote the young man's parents saying that "after
the protest rallies, Valeriu Boboc was arrested,
severely beaten by police, and as a result he
died." The authorities are claiming that he died
of smoke inhalation while inside the burning
parliament building.

Ambassador's Comments in the Press
--------------

6. (SBU) President Voronin's press service
released a statement about the president's meeting
with Ambassador Chaudhry on Friday April 10. The
official report was very appreciative of the
American Ambassador's understanding of the
realities in Moldova. However, the president's
statement failed to mention that a significant
portion of the meeting was devoted to the
Ambassador's concerns about the arrests of youth
and journalists and the use of violence against
them.


7. (SBU) In an April 11 interview with Infotag,
the Ambassador made USG concerns clear to the
Moldovan public, saying that: "We are concerned
about the measures taken after the protests
returned to a peaceful mode and I expressed this
concern directly to President Voronin. We are
concerned particularly about detention of
journalists and students without apparent basis,
and about pressures on teachers to prevent their
students from participation in demonstrations. We
received direct complaints from journalists who
told us about intimidation. We saw credible TV
reports about cases when journalists and students
had been detained and beaten. Such cases,
including mistreatment and intimidation of
journalists or any other citizen, should not take
place in a democracy."

Ambassador Signs Joint Statement with EU
Ambassadors
-------------- --------------
--

8. (SBU) On April 12 Ambassador Chaudhry signed a
joint statement together with the Czech Ambassador
Petr Kypr Czech Presidency on behalf of all EU
Ambassadors accredited in Moldova and the Special
Representative of the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe to Moldova Kalman Miszei. The
Joint Statement was addressed to President Voronin
with copies to Prime Minister Greceanii and
Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan. The statement
expressed concerns about the alleged ill treatment
of detainees:
BEGIN TEXT: We wish to refer to the violent
events which took place in Chisinau in the week
beginning 6 April 2009. In this context, we would
like to reiterate once again our deepest

CHISINAU 00000301 003 OF 003


condemnation of a any act of violence, as well as
the importance of the inalienable right of
assembly of peaceful demonstrators. In the last
few days, our embassies have received worrying
reports of alleged ill treatment of detainees,
lack of access to legal support and other serious
violations of human rights. We are in particular
concerned by the possibility that some minors may
also have been the victims of such repressive
measures, as well as of lack of adequate
information for their families. We kindly
request that you issue necessary instructions to
investigate these allegations and make sure that
the activities of the police and security forces
are carried out in strict compliance with the
principles of rule of law and with the
international commitments subscribed to by the
Republic of Moldova. END TEXT.

The Constitutional Court Approves Recount
--------------


9. (SBU) The Constitutional Court ruled on Sunday
April 12 that the Central Election Commission
(CEC) has 9 days, starting Sunday, to recount the
votes. The Court's decision cannot be appealed.
According to Constitutional Court Chairman Dumitru
Pulbere, the recount also includes an examination
of voter lists as demanded by the opposition. In
a note to the Constitutional Court which is
responsible for the recount, three members of the
CEC outlined violations to electoral legislation.
They said that the voter lists supplied to the CEC
by the Ministry of Information Technologies were
outdated and included people who died 20 years
ago. Furthermore, this note said that the
addresses of voters on the lists were incorrect,
which allowed for multiple voting.

Comment
--------------


10. (SBU) The focus of opposition discourse has
now largely shifted from its allegations of
electoral fraud to complaints about "rule of
terror" and mistreatment of those arrested for the
violence on April 7. The demonstration on April
12 proved that the opposition was capable of
mobilizing a huge crowd while maintaining
discipline and dispersing peacefully. Voronin
made an important concession to the opposition in
allowing for recount and review of voter lists.
If such checks were carried out scrupulously they
could help Moldova to find a way out of the
current political deadlock. A comprehensive
review would either uncover fraud or would assist
in creating an atmosphere of greater trust in the
results of the elections. However we do not yet
have indications that the opposition can even
perform a complete and systematic review of voter
lists in the limited time allowed (four days) to
resolve such complaints. Moldova will remain in
an atmosphere of political instability and doubt
until the new parliament can meet and successfully
elect the new president.

CHAUDHRY