Moldova's Communists defend arrested Russian writer.

CHISINAU, September 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The Communist Party of Moldova
rallied to defend a Russian writer and blogger who was arrested in
Chisinau in June for participation in the riots in April 2009.
A statement released on Thursday said "Eduard Bagirov is pressured to
provide false evidence against Communist Party representatives."
In 2009 the liberal opposition staged protests against the victory of
the Communists in the election which developed into riots and raids of the
buildings of parliament and the presidential residence. Bagirov mentioned
his involvement in those events in his blog.
"The inquisition process takes place in a situation when all the true
rioters are at large, hand out interviews, participate in TV shows, and
receive awards from authorities as revolutionary heroes and 'fighters
against the totalitarian regime'," the party said.
Last week Bagirov went on a hunger strike after a court decided to
extend his arrest for another 30 days. He wrote in his blog that in 90
days of his detention in Chisinau he was only once called for an official
questioning that lasted 20 minutes. "Therefore I refuse to take food until
I am released," he wrote.
Russia voiced concern over the extended arrest of its citizen, but
Chisinau ignored it.
"We must state that Russia's reiterated addresses remain without any
response. We note that the non-response from Chisinau can cause damage to
partnership between our countries and have a negative impact on bilateral
relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said last
week.
Russian Ambassador to Moldova Valery Kuzmin said last week: "Bagirov's
arrest is an additional irritant in relations between the two countries.
There is no need to create such problems in bilateral relations."
"As the arrest of Russian citizen Bagirov is being extended we have a
growing number of questions regarding the reasons and motives, as well as
the way the arrest continues and the circumstances that accompany it," the
ambassador said.