Moldova: Political prisoner Grigory Petrenko invited to PACE session

As noted in the document, the group “has the honor to invite Mr. Grigory Petrenko, leader of the party Our Home is Moldova, to participate as a guest at the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and in the meetings of the group, to highlight the latest developments in the human rights situation in Moldova.”

Earlier, it was reported that at the initiative of this group, PACE adopted a statement demanding the immediate release of the Petrenko Group political prisoners. Also, on the initiative of PACE deputies, head of the PACE Monitoring Committee Stefan Schennach was urgently dispatched to Moldova, where he inspected the conditions of detention of the political prisoners. Despite assurances from the authorities on the improvements for the detained political prisoners, after Schennach’s visit their conditions only deteriorated.

Grigory Petrenko, leader of the opposition party Our Home is Moldova (Red Bloc), former Member of Parliament and honorary member of PACE, was among seven protesters forcibly detained on September 6 by police after protests in front of the Prosecutor General’s office and an attempt to set up tents on the sidewalk in front of the establishment for an ongoing, peaceful protest against the oligarchic regime. All have remained imprisoned since September 6, 2015.

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Translated by Greg Butterfield