Final international report: Young man beaten to death on April 7, most likely by police

Moldovan authorities received a final international report on the death of Valeriu Boboc, a young man who died on April 7, during the mass repression campaign initiated by authorities after the vandalization of the Parliamentary and Presidential buildings. According to a Soros Foundation report, 700 people were detained during the repression, and 300 were tortured in police stations and other unknown locations.

Valeriu Boboc's body was returned home after a few days, and authorities at the time said he had died because of an intoxication with an unknown gas substance.

The international expertise, conducted by a professional from the United Kingdom, establishes that Mr. Boboc, a husband and a father of a young child, was beaten to death, most likely by police officers. Many Moldovans are not surprised by the report, considering the fact that pictures taken of the young man during his funeral show him with a huge dent in his head, most likely caused by brutal beatings. These pictures made their way onto the front pages of international press, as well. A popular Romanian daily - Evenimentul Zilei - had a large picture of Mr. Boboc's dead body on their front page.

Authorities have said that it will be very difficult to establish who exactly killed Mr. Boboc considering the fact that the people beating him, according to witnesses, were wearing masks. Since multiple police officers were kicking protesters who were ordered to lie down, it is also difficult to establish which kick was fatal.

Communist authorities, which were in power during April, have denied ordering the repression campaign, although Interior Minister Papuc, who coordinated the activity of police forces on the night of April 7 and later, told prosecutors that he followed orders from leaders at the time.