VZCZCXRO5557
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0296/01 1001552
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101552Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7877
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHISINAU 000296 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM MD
SUBJECT:  GOVERNMENT USING INTIMIDATION 
TO REGAIN CONTROL Q April 10 Sitrep 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please 
Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  President Voronin's 
crackdown on student rioters, 
journalists, and other outspoken critics 
of the government over the last two days 
has created a sense of fear among 
potential demonstrators.  Cyberspace 
messages cautioned demonstrators not to 
go downtown because they risked arrest. 
The main square remained calm throughout 
the day, with a crowd in front of the 
main government building of several 
hundred protesters chanting for the 
release of the approximately 200 
demonstrators who have been arrested 
over the last few days.  There was a 
considerable police presence assembled 
behind the main government building, 
while small groups of non-uniformed 
thugs, presumably from the security 
services, watched from across the street 
and also circulated around the city. 
Protesters have demanded that the 
Central Election Commission publish all 
voter lists in the official governmental 
register.  President Voronin has 
requested the constitutional court to 
allow a complete recounting of the 
ballots cast.   End Summary. 
 
Smaller Crowd in the Square Remains 
Peaceful 
----------------------------------------- 
--- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Small crowds of several hundred 
protesters gathered in the main square 
and peacefully listened to speeches. 
They chanted slogans calling for the 
release of protesters who had been 
detained.  People posted messages on 
Facebook warning demonstrators not to 
participate in today's protests, as 
provocateurs would be ready to take 
advantage of the situation. 
Many websites appear to be blocked in 
Moldova by Moldtelecom, the government- 
owned Internet provider, including 
unimedia.md, unimedia.info, jurnaltv.md, 
hotnews.md, protv.md (news sites), 
Facebook.com, Odnoklassniki.ru, 
Twitter.com, though the blockages appear 
to be intermittent. 
 
Government Using Intimidation to Reassert 
Control 
----------------------------------------- 
-------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The government has been actively 
cracking down, arresting some of those 
suspected of participating in the protest 
violence earlier in the week and 
arresting opposition journalists.  They 
are threatening school administrators and 
students, closing borders, and installing 
police checkpoints around Chisinau.  We 
have heard first-hand accounts of 
widespread intimidation of students in 
classrooms.  In one account, a student at 
the College of Informatics and Economics 
reported that police were at the college 
today and had pictures from the protests 
with them.  The police checked all 
classrooms and the grounds, grabbed two 
students and took them away.  In another 
instance, the student reported that 
school authorities locked the gates to 
the school grounds to ensure that 
students did not leave.  In yet another 
example, a college director informed 
students that the school would dismiss 
anyone who participated in the protests. 
The director of a village school in the 
north received a cable last night signed 
by Prime Minister Greceanii saying that 
 
CHISINAU 00000296  002 OF 003 
 
 
he has a personal responsibility to 
ensure that his students remained in 
classes today and not participate in the 
protests.  The same message was sent to 
other heads of educational institutions 
throughout the country. 
 
Opposition Journalists Harassed 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Threats against journalists have 
become more strident in the last twenty- 
four hours.  The editor-in-chief of 
Jurnal de Chisinau, Rodica Mahu, was 
reportedly kidnapped this morning when 
she was walking to her office; her staff 
is concerned that she was arrested. 
Other journalists from Ziarul de Garda 
reported being followed this morning by 
persons, presumably from the security 
services, dressed in civilian clothing. 
Ziarul de Garda, a Moldovan independent 
newspaper, claims to have evidence that 
would identify the principal actors in 
the destruction at the Parliament and 
Presidency buildings.  The police have 
destroyed cameras, beaten and intimidated 
several journalists, including Romanian 
reporters, over the past few days, and 
denied entry to foreign journalists who 
attempted to enter Moldova early this 
week.  The government is protecting the 
state-run Moldova 1 TV station 
headquarters, which demonstrators earlier 
threatened to take over.  Dozens of 
policemen and military personnel armed 
with Kalashnikovs are present, and 
snipers from the roof of the building are 
watching the entrances. 
 
"Conspiracy with Romanians" Pretext for 
Arrest 
----------------------------------------- 
----- 
 
¶5. (SBU) In addition to the students 
arrested for involvement in the 
demonstration violence, we have heard 
several stories that police have arrested 
people and charged them with conspiring 
with the Romanians.  An independent 
Romanian news portal reported that a 
raion (district) chairman and member of 
the Our Moldova Alliance (AMN) party 
claims he was "invited" yesterday to the 
Intelligence and Security Service, 
accused of being a Romanian spy calling 
on people to support unification with 
Romania, and threatened with 25 years of 
imprisonment.  The Prosecutor General's 
Office released a communique today 
stating that Moldovan law enforcement 
apprehended a Romanian citizen in his 
temporary residence in Chisinau and found 
maps of Chisinau, pictures of Moldovan 
governmental facilities, including the 
Parliament and Presidential 
Administration, as well as Molotov 
cocktails. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Press has reported that some 200 
people have been arrested.  An embassy 
officer observed today some 20-30 family 
members waiting outside the detention 
center where detainees are held pre- 
trial.  A list of 135 names of people in 
detention was posted on the front wall of 
this police station.  One couple told the 
embassy officer that their son's name was 
not on the list, but he had not come home 
last night, so they were waiting in hopes 
of further information about him. 
 
Travel Restrictions 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Even though borders appear to be 
open today, we have heard reports that 
 
CHISINAU 00000296  003 OF 003 
 
 
the police are restricting travel around 
Chisinau.  On April 10 police set up 
checkpoints on roads leading into 
Chisinau from Hincesti, Leuseni, and the 
airport.  The police are stopping all 
vans and buses and asking the occupants 
where they are going and what they are 
planning to do.  The police are not 
stopping passenger cars.  External 
borders might be closed if, according to 
one border control officer we spoke with, 
busses with students from Iasi, Cluj or 
Bucharest (Romanian cities) arrive at the 
border.  Those entering Moldova from 
Romania will be subject to the new visa 
requirements implemented yesterday; the 
cost for the now-mandatory visas is 35 
Euros.  There were no changes at the 
Chisinau Airport and flights are leaving 
and arriving without problem. 
 
Voronin Orders a Recount 
------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) President Voronin has asked the 
Constitutional Court to pass a decision 
to carry out a complete recount of the 
ballots cast during the April 5 
elections.  CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan 
told Infotag that the work would require 
about ten days.  On election day ballots 
were counted by some 20,000 people 
working simultaneously at polling 
stations throughout the country, whereas 
the re-count would be done only by 
members of the constituency election 
commissions.   Protesters have demanded 
that the Central Election Commission 
publish all voter lists in the official 
governmental register.  They believe that 
if all the 2.55 million names were 
published, it will be easier to uncover 
violations committed during the April 5 
elections. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The government's widespread use 
of intimidation might be enough to tame 
or cancel future protests.  Voronin's 
willingness to carry out a recount 
should address some of the grievances of 
the opposition.  However, a recount will 
not address questions of faulty voter 
lists, and which need to be checked 
separately, and some Moldovan citizens 
will likely remain unconvinced. 
Additionally, arrests of protesters and 
opposition members are creating a new 
set of grievances, as demonstrators 
chant for their release.  Though the 
streets are quieter, the electoral 
crisis will not end until after the 
voting concerns are settled, the new 
parliament convenes, a president is 
elected and a new government put in 
place. 
 
CHAUDHRY