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Moldova

American priest jailed in Moldova

April 25, 2009
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By Dinu Popa

This is the story about the Orthodox Priest Johnattan Netanyahu who went, in search of God, to Moldova and ended up in a Communist prison.

Are all US citizens equally protected by the Constitution of the United States? Are they all equal? I was reading the news from my native Moldova today and I couldn’t believe what I found there. A fifty seven years old priest, American citizen, called Johnattan Jerusalayem Netanyahu, has been arrested on April 24th by the Moldovan police for the second time in a row after the anti-communist protests in Chisinau. Why? Because Moldovan Communists are trying to prove foreign involvement in the violent outburst on April 7th and they can’t find any evidence. So they are trying to find it using “creative” methods. Plain clothes police officers arrested him once, couldn’t find anything and released him, just so they can arrest him again using a legal loophole and hold him for another 30 days.

According to the hotnews.md web site (http://hotnews.md/?p=4790) Netanyahu was unfortunate to witness some violent acts in Chisinau after the rigged Parliamentary elections. He didn’t participate in the violence. He didn’t hit any police officers, from what hotnews.md said. He didn’t say anything or provoke anybody. He just stood there and watched. This is his “crime”, and the fact that he is a foreigner.

Netanyahu, whose name is Jewish, is a Christian Orthodox priest, a resident of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He may be an ethnic Jew, I don’t know, but he also has the Romanian citizenship and that is the key to this puzzle. Moldovan Communists are trying hard to prove that Romania provoked the riots, but the only thing that’s missing so far is a clear, documented proof. So they arrested this poor man and tried to beat a confession out of him. I’m not exaggerating, this is not just a common expression – the US citizen Johnatan Jerusalayem Netanyahu has been repeatedly intimidated, threatened, and beaten in detention by his interrogators. As he states in the short interview he offered before getting arrested again, he was interrogated a number of times by three men. One of them will beat him, another one will insult him, and the third one will ask questions. He hasn’t confessed anything except the obvious fact that he saw other people commit acts of violence. Who were those people? So far the only people who were identified by the media are Communist’s allies or members of the „popular guard”, a paramilitary organization created to attack the opposition supporters during the election campaign and disrupt their rallies. There were also some convicts, but they seem to somehow “magically” return to their prison cells during the next few days.

Attacks against the US interests in Moldova are not rare these days. The director of the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) office in Chisinau, Alex Grigorievs, was scheduled for deportation on April 14th. The president of Moldova and the Secretary General of the Party of Communists, police General Vladimir Voronin, said on TV to the Moldovan people that the director of the NDI was involved in planning the violence. In other words – the president of Moldova blamed the USA for the violence his own „popular guard” and allies committed.

I remember watching on CNN how US marines saved one American citizen from the Somali pirates. They could’ve left him to die, they could’ve said he is already dead, but they didn’t. The whole World learned that day from the news that the life of US citizens is important to the American Government. Why then is Johnatan Netanyahu in detention with no charges against him? Is his life less important than the lives of other Americans? Is he somehow guilty because he witnessed a protest in another country? The Moldovan authorities have no proof of his affiliation with the violent group and they are using legal tricks and loopholes to keep him separated from the media and his lawyer. Why wouldn’t US ambassador in Chisinau go to Vladimir Voronin, or to the Parliament Speaker Marian Lupu and demand to see the charges against that poor man?

I know that the US press is not particularly interested in the events in Moldova, and I understand why. Netanyahu’s name and picture are not being displayed on the TV screens every 10 minutes, but that’s not a reason to deny an American citizen his rights. Could CNN say something about this case? It could. But it’s too busy covering “cool” news. Could Fox news say something? It could. Actually Fox News has a better coverage of the events in Moldova. My point is that a 2-3 minutes report about this American priest could save his life. Again, I’m not exaggerating. His life may be in danger. Three people have already died in Moldova after April 7th while in police custody and three are missing.

I’m sure the US Embassy’s staff also could’ve done more for Mr. Netanyahu, if they wanted, or if the State Department demanded more decisive actions. I’m not asking for the marines to march to some Penitentiary in Moldova and save Mr. Netanyahu, no. The USA has enough political leverage in Chisinau to free him quietly and peacefully in less than an hour. All is required is a little will.

Are all US citizens equally protected by the Constitution of the United States? They may be, provided their story is covered by the news outlets.

I’d say, let’s make the story of the priest Johnatan Netanyahu who went, in search of God, to Moldova and ended up in a Communist prison, known. Let’s write about him, let’s ask questions, and let’s ask TV stations to talk about him. Because if you want the Communist interrogators to stop asking questions from American citizens, you have to make sure that the US media is asking the right questions.

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Dinu Popa is an independent analyst, resident of Dallas, TX, working for a telecommunication company. He holds a master’s degree in Communication Studies from the California State University. He immigrated to the United States from the Republic of Moldova.

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