CHISINAU, November 20. /TASS/. Members of Moldova’s pro-European opposition bloc Acum put forward a proposal to reopen a special probe into the riots of April 7, 2009 when the parliament building and the presidential office were stormed into and set on fire.
"The parliamentary secretariat has registered a draft resolution on setting up a special commission to investigate the factitious and legal circumstances of the April 2009 events," Acum MP Dinu Plangau said at a briefing. According to him, the commission should "submit a report on who benefited and why no one has been yet made accountable. He was also hopeful that the new probe would help punish the perpetrators.
Riots that divided the country
In April 2009, supporters of pro-European parties, who were frustrated with the victory of Moldova’s governing Communist Party in the general election, staged protests in the capital of Chisinau, which ended up with pogroms at the parliament building and the presidential office. Flags of the European Union and neighboring Romania were hoisted on the buildings and slogans urging to unite the two countries were chanted.
Former Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin told the police not to open fire against the rioters, even though about 300 police were injured in the clashes, as the protesters were hurling cobbles at the officers, beating and setting them on fire. Law enforcement officers managed to oust the protesters from the city center only at night when most of them had broken up.
Later Voronin said that the riots were organized in Moldova by those "who later staged Maidan and similar actions in Azerbaijan." According to the former president, the United States, Romania and the Open Society Foundations (an international grant-making network founded by business magnate George Soros - TASS) were behind the protests.
Misfortunes of pro-European coalition
After the riots, a coalition of three pro-European parties came to power in Moldova. Backed by Washington and Brussels, their leaders pledged to seek accession to the European Union. Nonetheless, their government was dogged by an economic crisis, a series of corruption and political scandals. One the coalition leaders - former Prime Minister Vlad Filat - was sentenced for corruption. Another leader - oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc - fled the country after the change of power in June. Criminal proceedings were initiated against him and he was put on international wanted lists.
Moldova’s current President Igor Dodon says that the April events were "an attempted coup" and its organizers should be brought to justice. He added with regret that the law enforcement agencies had not identified those responsible for the riots. Nevertheless, his opinion is not shared by some other politicians. For example, leaders of Moldova’s pro-Romania Liberal Party, which were members of the ruling coalition at the time, declared the riots a ‘revolution’ and even wanted to build a monument to the protesters.