Moldovan Interior Ministry conducts searches in Gagauzia over referendums on autonomy held
CHISINAU. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Field investigators of the Moldovan Interior Ministry conducted searches on Friday in the apartment and office of one of the referendum organizers in Gagauzia, Anatoly Kar, who is a member of the Gagauzia Central Elections Committee and head of the regional directorate for youth affairs and sport, the Gagauzia Executive Committee told Interfax.
The Moldovan Prosecutor General's press office has also reported the search conducted without specifying namely who was searched. According to the press office, the reason of the search has become "the opening of the criminal case over the offence, which was manifested in holding referendums by the autonomy on February 2, 2014."
Police were looking for documents or items proving that the official was involved in organizing the referendums, however failed to find either stamps or vote ballots.
A Chisinau printing enterprise was searched on the same regard on January 6.
The actions of field investigators are "outrageous violation of rights of the autonomy's residents," Deputy of the Gagauzia National Assembly Ivan Burgudzhi, who was one of the referendum organizers, said.
"We intend to call an emergency meeting of the National Assembly by the end of the day in order to determine all the circumstances of actions of police and prosecutors and their legal basis and to assess the existing situation," Burgudzhi told Interfax on the telephone.
The referendum regarding the foreign policy of Moldova was held in Gagauzia on February 2 and over 98% voters said they supported Moldova's integration in the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The Moldovan government said that the referendum was unconstitutional because local authorities have no right to affect the country's foreign policy.
