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Moldova Protesters Demand Justice For 2009 Crackdown Victims


Around 2,000 protesters are believed to have turned out for the demonstration in Chisinau on April 5.
Around 2,000 protesters are believed to have turned out for the demonstration in Chisinau on April 5.

Some 2,000 demonstrators have staged a rally in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, demanding justice for the victims of an April 2009 crackdown on anticommunist protesters who were challenging parliamentary election results.

The rally, organized by the Civic Platform for Truth and Dignity on April 5, was the largest protest of its kind so far against Moldova's new center-right minority government that has allied itself with the Communist Party six years after the latter was driven from power.

At least one person was killed and hundreds of students were arrested and allegedly mistreated while in custody during a police crackdown on protesters in 2009.

Earlier this year, former Interior Minister Gheorghe Papuc was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for negligence in connection with those events.

Last month, the Appeals Court in Chisinau convicted a former policeman to 10 years in prison for killing the protestor, Valeriu Boboc.

Despite the convictions, neither man was ordered to be held in custody and both have fled. Their whereabouts are unknown.

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