At the end of June, the US Department of State presented the Human Trafficking Report for 2007. Moldova is on the black list because of the Government’s inefficiency in supporting victims and preventing corruption regarding the cooperation between civil servants and flash dealers. 2 Moldovan officials reacted to this phenomenon.

On the bank of the Nistru River, the sense of justice is keener

On Tuesday, June 10^th, the Supreme Court examined the ordinary appeal of the Prosecution in a case, in which a group of citizens from Calarasi and Straseni accuse Constantin Oanta, who lives in Straseni, of involvement in human trafficking and of organization of illegal labour migration. Ana Manole, from Cojusna, Straseni district, Ion Robu and Anton Plop, from Calarasi, complained at the law court that, through his actions, Oanta caused them priceless material and moral damage.

The Basarabian land is strewed with bones and drenched with the blood of Romanian soldiers who fought for our today’s existence. Those who are buried should know we didn’t forget them. We think about them. Let the earth be light to them and let God forgive them…”

Grigore Caraza, political prisoner

Motto: “If we are not normal and real patriots, and we are fighting for a piece of bread which comes from abroad.”

Vladimir Voronin, president of the Republic of Moldova, the meeting with press editors, June 10^th, 2008

The family Gaidau from Balti town makes shocking confessions about the way in which one of their 28-year-old sons, Vitalie, was forced by a few policemen to “assume” the explosion from colonel Domnisor’s window, in the evening of October 9^th 2006.

The campaign “You can stop corruption” continues. Last week we made an appointment with our readers in front of the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “N. Testemiteanu”. We are glad that more and more young people come to meet us, to express their opinion regarding the corruption phenomenon from the Republic of Moldova.

2007

600 complaints from the citizens addressed to MIA, regarding the abusive behaviour of the policemen

258 penal causes – prosecuted

32 policemen – fired

12 inspectors – under penal investigation for bribe taking

24 former co-workers of MIA – detained in the specialized penitentiary from Lipcani

The chairman of the communists from the Chisinau (being also the president of the Republic of Moldova) was organizing yesterday the traditional, as manner and spirit, annual press conference at the palace. Far from the unwelcome people’s eyesight, well guarded and defended, among “his people” and,  with preference, with “his people”. Therefore, with press, but not with all press.

Holidays on the money from the budget of the country. In this way is perceived the appointment of the Republic of Moldova officials in the position of ambassadors. At least this is affirmed by some employees of the Embassy of Moldova in People’s Republic of China about Iacob Timciuc mandate, the ex-minister of Energetics. Timciuc, being unpleased by the accommodations of the diplomatic mission from China, spent just in one month approximately 12 thousands of dollars in order to design the embassy “up to the ambassador level”.

Village Sofia, from Drochia rayon, is on the distance of more than 160 km to Chisinau. Every second inhabitant of the village is abroad, in the hospital only one doctor is working, and the salaries and pensions of the villagers don’t exceed more than 500 lei.

99,99% of the flagrants organized until this day by the legal bodies are nothing but basic challenges, accompanied by obvious violations of the legal and human rights related provisions, believes attorney at law Gheorghe Malic. It apperas that not only the mayors and doctors are protected by the „flagrant phenomenon”, but even the employees of the Register Offices (RO).

 
Dorina Carapcevschi was an employee of  the Register Office of Ungheni until August 2007. On 14.08.2007, she was captured on  camera by 5 legal representatives, who accused her of taking bribe...

During the same day, the woman was held at the General Police Station of Chisinau. Although she was fully aware of her innocence, she and her husband, ran to and from Ungheni and Chisinau for a couple of days, because she was under questioning.  

One day, as she was coming from a regular questioning, she realized that she was losing the baby she was carrying. The doctors confirmed that the hemoragy was indeed caused by the stress she had to go through during those days.

Attention to tenders! Danger to be arrested!

People are destroying themselves morally and physically, because they don’t have enough money to buy their freedom

CCECC announces, on 23 July 2007, the detention of the citizens Valeriu Burghelea and Vladimir Menin, being suspected in swindling and receiving of the bribe which value is 480 000 lei.

According to the CCECC officers, the director of one joint stock company addressed to their center and declared that those two, Burghelea and Menin, swindled from him 480 000 lei in order to assure the winning of the tender organized for the rebuilding of the Hospital from Glodeni.

The story of those four children from Micu family!

 Veronica, Ecaterina, Eugenia and Stefan are 4 orphan children, who live in Balabanesti commune, from Criuleni rayon. In 2001 the father of the children, Stefan, died, as a result of a heart attack.  In 2005, a renal crisis caused the death of Maria Micu, their mother. Stefan and Maria were 36 years old each when they left this life. They built a house right near the wood and had 4 children! In one moment a bouquet of dreams disappeared

The village Schinoasa, from Calarasi district, being populated exclusively by Roma people, is one of the rural localities from the Republic of Moldova which doesn’t exist on the geographical map.

The principal of the kindergarten from Hartopul Mare, Maria Postoronca, is suspected of swindling of some sums of money from the parents of the children who attend this institution. Parents pay off monthly one hundred of lei and each one has his variant of answer when is asked which destination have these sums of money.

Elena Mocanu, vice minister of Justice:

It is not said correctly that only judges are corrupted. It is a phenomenon which exists in juridical system also. I think that the system should fight with scourge of corruption from inside, because those corrupted are in minority. In fact, judges make properly their job.

Interview with Jean-Paul Costa, President of the European Court of Human Rights

Question: Many former soviet/union countries face a huge corruption in the judicial system. What you may say about corrupted justice?

A corrupt judiciary can be neither independent nor impartial and is the absolute negation of what the judiciary should stand for. Corrupted justice is self-evidently no justice at all.

The political accident from the end of 2007, provoked by Voronin regime in the relationships with Bucuresti, puts, through its stupidity and span, more question signs regarding the quality of the government act from Chisinau. If not on external plan, at least on internal one. Especially that this accident continues to produce victims, political ones obviously, even after entering in the 2008 year.

In the first days of this year, between two Christmas holidays, I have lived a complex déja vu. It was neither about recurrence of the carols, nor the recurrence of carols with star of the communists statesmen through Poiana Brasov.

At Soroca, the hard-hits from the block destroyed as a result of explosion on October 27, 2007 celebrated Christmas in the same student hostel which was offered them just after the tragedy. For holidays, the inhabitants from Stefan cel Mare Str, 117 from Soroca were not forgotten, being visited by a group of priests who came at them with Christmas carols. Premier Tarlev didn’t forget them too, sending them envelopes with … postcards.

Maria’s heart clasped one more time, very firmly, as if someone was hauling an iron curtain in her soul. Everything finished. Beginning with today Poland entered Schengen space. Maria and other hundreds of Moldovans who stayed hidden in Ukrainian woods which are neighboring with Polish passing stations, in order to enter EU with forged documents, remained behind the wall.

The official monitor from December 28, 2007 published over 40 decisions of the government, being adopted on December 18, 24, 26, and 27. The majority of them have the title “Regarding the assignation of the financial means.” 3 days before the end of the year money was assigned for Wine Day, the trip of Tarlev to Sofia, the flight of Voronin to Bruxelles, the party of some Russian officials at Chisinau, as well as for the debts of the newspaper “Moldova.”

The end of December 2007 was a period of shock for the members of Ministers Cabinet, but especially for the State Budget. National Financial sack was cleaned out by millions of lei only in one week. Few hundreds of thousands of lei were assigned for the Christmas tree installation in the front of the Government and for the concerts around it.

The Metropolis of Basarabia qualified the expulsion of four Romanian priests and one nun as a new wave of persecutions from the part of Chisinau authorities, expressing the intention to enter a complaint at ECHR, against the Republic of Moldova.

 Romanian Patriarchy also expressed its concern against what is qualified as attempts of intimidations of the Metropolis of Basarabia representatives, which canonic depend of Romanian Orthodox Church.

Being asked on 19 December, within a press conference, if he still claims as he did in 2001 that he wants to be the president of everybody, Vladimir Voronin declared that he is still a president of everybody, but, in the same time, he refuses to be the president of Romanians from the Republic of Moldova.

The orphanages of Moldova are full of children – but not all the children within them are orphans. Of the 11,000 or so children living in 67 residential orphanages in the country, as many as 10,000 may have one parent who is alive, according to some estimates.

Vitalie Vrabie, the minister of defense, has admitted that he knows nothing about the family of Dumitru Comanac, who was killed on June 9 due to negligence of ministry officials on a shooting range in Bulboaca. Nearly six months after the tragedy, the victim’s family has not been helped with anything by anyone in the government.

Who could have taken the 130,000 leis from the local budget? This question still doesn’t have an answer. Not long after that, the district governor changed his business car for an Opel Frontierra, which was bought for 95,000 leis. A few months later, Pisov realized that he had another passion – a Skoda, which he said the president had given him. This car was later given back to Chisinau after the famous Skoda scandal. That is why the district governor used that car for only half a year.

After six years of ruling, President Vladimir Voronin has returned to exactly the point at which he started his career in politics: fear of Romania on one side, and admiration and favors for the Russian Federation on the other side. Of his original political projects, the only one about which he hasn’t made up his mind is the union of Russia with Belarus. As for the rest, his political will can be traced to 2001 or earlier.

Following a tradition, on Nov. 7 Communist comrades from Chisinau laid carnations at the monument of Vladimir Lenin, in memory of the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution. “Tsarovich” Vladimir Voronin, Moldova’s president, declared to the press that the October Revolution is extremely important “for those who lived during the Soviet period – the memories are still alive, so the past is compared to today and yet the social changes are not favorable.”

The children who end up in orphanages in Moldova arrive there for many different reasons, and most of them are not there because they are orphans. They include children taken from their parents through court orders; children of people who have lost their parental rights; children of parents who are mentally disabled, unable to work or working in other countries; and abandoned children. Some are children who have the status of orphans – and some of those are really orphans.

The Law on the Status of Intelligence and Security Officers came into effect on Nov. 2, making the selection process for officers of the Security and Intelligence Service – Moldova’s leading security agency – much more difficult and intrusive. The new measures include the use of a lie detector test when selecting SIS officers. Candidates will be questioned about their political and religious beliefs, and many other things. In most Western nations, the results of lie detector tests are considered suspect. While they are used for some purposes, they are generally not allowed in legal proceedings because of doubts about their reliability.

On Nov. 1, a group of several dozen Moldovan deportees held a demonstration to protest against a government decision that they say makes it nearly impossible to regain lost possessions or receive compensation from the state. More than 600,000 people are believed to have been deported from Moldova to Siberia or other Soviet regions after World War II by Stalin’s regime, which called them “enemies of the people.”

Four people perished after an explosion in an apartment house at 117 Stefan cel Mare Street in Soroca on Oct. 27: Grigore Palamari, Lidia Palamari and Anatol Lozinschi, residents of the building, and 11-year-old Alina Sterletchi, who was visiting her brother’s in-laws at the time of the explosion, which occurred about 10 p.m.

The government helped the Beletei family, who had triplet boys on Aug. 21, by giving them a one-off payment of 10,000 leis (about 625 euros), but it now says it cannot offer further help until a year has passed. The Center for Mother and Child informed us that the initial payment had been offered because the Beletei family had been forced to leave the center after spending two months there at the hospital’s expense. Other triplets who were born at the same time remain at the center, however, as doctors fight for their survival.

The main reason for these continual failures is the Moldovan justice system and its ingrained problems. We have discovered with bewilderment that not even one judge has been sanctioned in any way for any decision that has led to the conviction of the Republic of Moldova at the ECHR. I’m not talking only about financial issues – at least disciplinary actions should have been considered. In such cases, when our state is convicted, someone should at least find out whether that judge has the necessary qualifications. There is a series of circumstances that should determine the improvement of our judicial system.

Only a small number of retired people who have worked at least 45 years enjoyed the Moldovan prime minister’s attention on Old Persons’ Day. For half a century, veterans of the cultural, educational and health fields of state service would each receive a lilac plastic bag with food, an envelope with 200 leis (13 euros) and a rose.

Maria is 16. Many girls her age are falling in love, or graduating from grammar school or discovering the books of Paolo Coelho. But Maria has a different and more difficult path. She is learning instead how to recover from attempted suicide after a childhood of brutal, debilitating beatings by her alcoholic parents.

Moldovan playwright Constantin Cheianu has made his directorial debut with “In a Container,” which premiered in October at the Alexei Mateevici Theatre. He says it is “99 percent truth.”

The recently elected mayor of Moldova’s capital city, Chisinau, has been threatened with a criminal lawsuit alleging that he embezzled money that was supposed to go to the utilities company Termocom. The city owed the company a debt of historic proportions, which was accumulated during the tenures of previous mayors.

What is the generational ratio within City Hall. … Who commands the most influence?
Openness, transparency and modernism cannot necessarily be associated with just one particular generation. I have spent some time in City Hall, and I feel that the atmosphere embodies something between the old and the new, at the border of past and future. The old-fashioned people are not only those belonging to the third generation.

In the City Hall of Cosernita, two rooms are ready for the installation of new computers owned by private companies. The recreation room has been transformed into a fitness room, and the police officer has a desk in the corridor. Civil marriages are also carried out in the corridor. This is the picture of a City Hall where, not long ago, the chair of the mayor belonged to a member of the Communist Party (PCRM).

They spent many years in Transnistrian custody, suffering what the European Court of Human Rights has called torture and inhuman treatment. On Aug. 27, three members of the now-famous dissident circle known as the Ilascu Group were heard in the open as part of testimony on human rights abuses before a subcommittee of the European Parliament in Brussels.

An opposition leader, Serafim Urecheanu, has accused President Vladimir Voronin of telling lies about his political opponents while enjoying immunity from scrutiny himself. The accusation stems from statements made by the president about the opposition on television in early October.

The Intelligence and Information Service has established a unique telecommunications security institute that will provide such services as conducting relevant research, detecting and intercepting signals from electronic devices, and developing and trading programs on codes. The new institute, called the Center for Special Telecommunications (CST), will have bank accounts in Moldova and all over the world, and it will buy and provide services according to market prices.

“We conduct these visits to discover the problems of doctors and their patients and to make some positive changes,” a message from Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev said. “As we all know, it is much easier, cheaper and more efficient to prevent a disease, rather than to treat it.”

To thousands of Moldovans working in Russia and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the customs inspections at the border seem to be set up to keep them from returning home quickly. Many times, revenue officers organize extra checks because they suspect that guest workers are concealing the real value of their earnings.

Losing sons and daughters, or mothers and fathers, who work abroad causes suffering that cannot be eased with money. The Moldovan government knows this, but it recently explored the idea of making the arrangements easier for families by allowing them to transport their dead without paying first for the service. Under the current system, families must pay to bring home their loved ones, then seek compensation from the government.

Rodica Gheorghiþã is 50 and has been in prison since November 2005. She says she was condemned in absentia on forged evidence for trafficking of human beings. After she was locked up, her father died. Now her mother is gravely ill, and she fears she will never again see her mother alive.