Moldovan Separatists Release Last Political Prisoner
June 04, 2007
Tudor Petrov-Popa following his release (RFE/RL)
Transdniester region have released their last political prisoner after
he completed his 15-year prison term.
Tudor Petrov-Popa was convicted on terrorism charges. He was the last of four prisoners held by Transdniester since a 1992 armed conflict with Chisinau.
The prisoners were members of the Popular Moldovan Front, a political movement that called for the reunification of Moldova with neighboring Romania. Transdniester freed another member of the group, Andrei Ivantoc, on June 2.
Ilie Ilascu was released in 2001 and is now a member of parliament for a nationalist party in Romania. The fourth, Alexandru Lesco, was freed in 2004.
The European Court for Human Rights in July 2004 ordered the release of Ivantoc and Petrov-Popa and ordered Moldova and Russia to pay the four a total of over $1 million in compensation.
The court held Russia partly responsible for their detention because of its military and political support for Transdniester. Russia has since paid the compensation
(AP, Interfax, Basa)