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. 
 
¶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