Police Confirmed Using Special Equipment against Protesters in Chisinau

According to the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova Stefan Pavlov, five police officers were injured during the clashes CHISINAU, December 16. / TASS /. The police used tear gas against farmers protesters in Chisinau due to the fact that they violated public order. As a TASS correspondent reported from the scene, this stated the deputy head of the Republic's Public Security Inspectorate, Alexei Grosu. "The police used tear gas because the protesters violated the law, they used equipment, although it was not agreed. In addition, they do not comply with epidemic measures, endangering both their lives and the lives of the police," Grosu told reporters outside parliament. He recalled that in connection with the pandemic, mass events in the republic are prohibited. Colonel Stefan Pavlov, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that five police officers were injured during the clashes and received medical assistance. "The foot of one policeman got under the wheels of a tractor, while others received strong blows from the protesters," Pavlov said. Farmers' protests in the Moldovan capital erupted into clashes with the police after demonstrators, driving tractors to the parliament building, tried to break through the police cordon and enter the building's steps. In addition to farmers, veterans of the armed conflict on the Dniester and representatives of opposition parties who were seeking government resignation and parliament dissolution took part in the action. On the eve, the incumbent President Igor Dodon said that the opposition organized protests of farmers in Chisinau to put pressure on authorities. Demonstrators voiced demands in front of the parliament building. A plenary meeting of the legislature is scheduled for Wednesday to consider the draft budget and tax policy for 2021.