Moldovan President Maia Sandu commented on the incident at a meeting with the diaspora in Ireland, after which activist Olesya Stamati said that they tried to prevent her from speaking out and asking questions to the president. Sandu emphasized that there are people who ask questions to hear answers, and those who come only to talk. The President spoke about this on May 2 on air Jurnal Politics.
According to Sandu, she listened carefully to the woman, but she could not complete her speech for a long time.
“I always listen to people, regardless of their goals. However, both those who ask questions to hear answers and those who simply want to talk and are not given the opportunity to answer come to the meetings. This woman asked a pertinent question related to the Vartik case. I listened to her carefully, but when the person does not stop, the audience begins to express dissatisfaction. People came to meet me, not this person. After 5-10 minutes of monologue, others also want to speak. The question always arises: what to do when a person doesn’t have 10 minutes to ask a question,” the president said.
According to Sandu, in such situations it is difficult to find an “elegant” solution, but there are people in the audience who come up and try to take the microphone to stop the performance.
“In such cases, we try to maintain a civilized dialogue, but sometimes people in the audience themselves come up, try to take the microphone and stop the performance. Honestly, there is no perfect way to get out of this situation. And, by the way, this is not the first time we have encountered this woman – there are people who come only to express their position. But at some point, you need to give others the floor,” Sandu emphasized.
The President added that she always tries to listen to all questions – regardless of whether she likes them or not.
We would like to remind you that Moldovan citizen and activist Olesya Stamati living in Ireland told about a meeting with President Maia Sandu on April 8 in Dublin, to which she came to ask about the investigation into the death of Ludmila Vartik. Stamati wrote on social networks that she was able to communicate with the head of state, although they tried to prevent her from speaking out and asking questions. The woman said that this was “unacceptable and unacceptable,” accusing the Moldovan ambassador to Ireland and one of the embassy employees of abuse of power.
Stamati said that she came to a meeting with the president to demand a transparent and fair investigation into the case of Lyudmila Vartik. “I supported this president in the elections and I feel a civic responsibility to warn him about problems in society, in the country or abroad,” the activist added.
However, at the meeting, according to the woman, they tried to silence her. “Madam Ambassador tried to interrupt me several times, and an embassy employee took the microphone. I spoke for less than four minutes, so it was inappropriate and unacceptable. You don’t understand what freedom of speech means. I’m sorry that the president didn’t intervene, this is not democracy, my dears, this is an abuse of power,” the activist said.
It is known that the president responded to Stamati, admitting that violence against women is a serious problem in Moldova, and assuring that the investigation into the death of Lyudmila Vartik will be completed.
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Ludmila Vartik, a kindergarten teacher from Hincesti, died on March 3. According to preliminary information, she fell from the 11th floor of a residential building. The National Coalition “Life Without Violence” stated that the woman could have been subjected to years of violence by her husband, the vice-chairman of the Hincesti district council, Dumitru Vartica. According to the organization, this “could have driven her to suicide.”
According to the forensic examination, Lyudmila Vartik died from injuries caused by a fall from a height. Ambulance doctors also denied the information that the woman died before the fall.
Police said they are investigating. Following this, PAS announced that it had expelled Vartik from the party. And he himself submitted his resignation from the post of vice-chairman of the district council.
Vartik denies allegations of violence and said he is “cooperating with the investigation.”
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