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Maia Sandu bears personal responsibility for the killing of a Turkish criminal in Chisinau and for the increase in crime rate, according to the Telegram channel Smugleanka. In reality, the crime rate has decreased and fighting crime is not the responsibility of the president of the state.
NEWS: July 13: "Maia Sandu's party again refuses to take responsibility for the crime committed in the center of Chisinau. No resignation or statement came from either the Presiden or the Prime Minister, who are responsible for the safety of the country.
The man killed in the center of Chisinau was a criminal and was registered in an international database. He was living freely in Moldova, although he should have been extradited, but as always, the justice reform and other interests prevented the case from being properly solved.
This is not an isolated evidence of how flourishing crime in Moldova is. Last week, a man was buried alive and earlier an employee had been killed at the airport. Also, there are constant reports of gun smuggling. However, the Moldovan law enforcement agencies are fighting the opposition at the behest of Maia Sandu, whose ratings are dropping.
[...] The Cabinet of Ministers cannot deal with the situation in the country and must resign. The President is required to call for it if the Prime Minister and the Ministers do not do so themselves. But this is unlikely to happen, so the responsibility for the crimes committed and the flourishing of crime rests with Maia Sandu."
July 14: "We should expect an increase in the number of violent crimes in Moldova in the near future. Such forecasts are now made by Ian Linevsky, the director of the sociological company Intellect Group. According to him, in the last five years, society has been living in a state of stress. A recent study shows that the psychological state of Moldovan society is frightening. More than 50 percent of the Moldovan population feels alone and, therefore, no longer gets involved in the state's activity.
[...] Expired President Maia Sandu has led Moldovan society to socio-political apathy. More than 60 percent of respondents have had suicidal thoughts in the past 5 years. Also, the level of aggression in society has increased significantly. Interior Minister Adrian Efros, however, believes that citizens have no reason to be afraid. According to him, all criminal groups have been liquidated. But the ordered murder in the center of Chisinau and last year's victim-claiming shootings at the airport say otherwise. And if we take into account the fact that Moldova has become a transit point for Ukrainian mercenaries and nationalists, we can conclude that the authorities have created all the conditions for potential terrorist acts".
NARRATIVES: 1. In the Republic of Moldova, the crime rate is on the rise, due to the pro-European government and President Maia Sandu. 2. Maia Sandu is to blame for the suicidal thoughts that Moldovan citizens have.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: A Turkish citizen was assasinated at a terrace restaurant in Chisinau on July 10 An unknown person fired seven bullets at him and until July 17, the criminal had not been caught. Later it was found that the Turkish citizen was part of a criminal group and was wanted internationally by the British authorities. He had entered the territory of the Republic of Moldova in 2022, together with a large number of Ukrainian refugees and, like approximately 11,000 Ukrainians, requested political asylum. The Moldovan authorities declined his request, but due to procedural violations he was left at large.
During parliamentary hearings, it was found that the Migration and Asylum Office, as well as some judges, allegedly stalled the trial regarding the denial of asylum status. The Ministry of Internal Affairs then announced the start of an investigation into the activity of the General Inspectorate for Migration.
Later, the authorities established that 38 foreign citizens, wanted for various types of crimes had settled on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, requesting asylym status.
On June 30, 2023, at the Chisinau International Airport, a Tajik citizen who had been banned from entering the Republic of Moldova managed to steal the weapon of a border policeman who was escorting him and shot him and a security officer dead. It was later learned that the Tajik national was wanted in his home country for the kidnapping of a bank manager. Following an exchange of fire with the intervention teams, Rustam Ashurov was seriously injured and died a few days later at the hospital. That incident was also used by the Russian propaganda to attack the Chisinau authorities, and Veridica debunked the fakes. PURPOSE: To induce fear in society by inoculating the idea of an increase in the crime rate in the Republic of Moldova and the lack of safety for citizens, blaming the government for this.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Blaming Maia Sandu directly for the murder committed in Chisinau and for the alleged increase in crime rate is absurd, given that this area of responsibility does not fall within the powers of the President of the Republic of Moldova.
Moreover, statistical data from up until 2022 show that the crime rate actually decreased in recent years in the Republic of Moldova - from over 40,000 crimes annually in the middle of the second decade, to less than 27,000 in the years 2020-2022. The number of murders also fell from around 180 annually in 2014-2016 to less than 140 in 2021-22, under the current government.
Suicidal tendencies, which the Telegram channels claim went up because of Maia Sandu, are not statistically confirmed. According to the data, valid until the year 2021, since 2014, the number of suicides decreased constantly in the Republic of Moldova , from 581 to 466 per year.
In fact, the opinion poll referred to by the source was conducted by the company Intellect Group, seen as previously affiliated with the fugitive oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc.
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