Criminal File for Kidnapping after Detention and Release of Journalists Viorica Tataru and Andrei Captarenco in Tiraspol

The Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (POCOCSC) has initiated a criminal investigation after journalists Viorica Tataru and Andrei Captarenco were detained by the self-proclaimed Tiraspol authorities on January 24. They were released almost three hours later.

“The POCOCSC, jointly with the NII officers, announce initiating a criminal case after a reporter and a camera operator were kidnapped by the representatives of the so-called law enforcement structures on the left bank of the Dniester. The incident took place on Wednesday, when the TV8 journalist was documenting a public demonstration in Tiraspol. The reporter and the camera operator were approached by a group of unknown persons wearing the uniform of the so-called law enforcement structures of the self-proclaimed authorities of the left bank of the Dniester. Using force, against the victims’ will, they kidnapped and transported them to an undocumented direction,” the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office wrote on the institution’s official Facebook page.