Vera Glijin is so angry that she almost screams.
– Why should I be afraid? Did I do something wrong?
We are sitting on a park bench outside a summer-closed school in the Moldovan village of Sanatauca. Vera works here, but lives a few kilometers away, on the other side of the river Dniestr.
SVT has just asked her if she is not afraid of getting into trouble now that she chooses to talk to a journalist about what has happened to her son in Transnistria.
– People are afraid to say anything. But I’m not afraid. What should they do that they have not already done? she says.
In Transnistria, there is a government, police force, court and laws that are completely different from Moldova, despite the fact that the region legally and geographically belongs to this country.
14 months in isolation
Adrian Glijin, Vera’s 40-year-old son, was out grazing his cows on the shores of the Dniester, when a car without a license plate stopped next to him and five masked men forcibly forced him to leave. A neighbor who was at home saw the whole incident, and then Vera learned that her son had been kidnapped.
– They locked him up for 14 months. In isolation cell. To keep someone isolated for so long, it’s cruel, says Vera.
In May 2022, Adrian’s court proceedings were finally held. Neither his lawyer nor his family found out. Adrian was sentenced to 13 years in prison for treason. The judgment cannot be read, as it is stamped as confidential.
“When they need something, they kidnap”
According to Ion Monoli, lawyer and CEO of the non-profit organization Promo Lex, cases similar to Adrian’s can be measured in the hundreds, if not the thousands. On the same day that Adrian was kidnapped, three more men disappeared, including a police officer and a customs officer.
– Tiraspol (the self-proclaimed capital of Transnistria) has adopted this strategy. When they need something, they kidnap people, who they then try to exchange for something or someone, he says.
Summary trials, kidnappings and torture are common phenomena in Transnistria. The biggest problem, according to Ion Monoli, is the total lack of responsibility that prevails in the country.
– Those who commit these crimes know that they will not be punished for it. It is free to do what you want.