Vera’s son has been kidnapped – imprisoned and isolated for 14 months

Vera Glegen was so angry that she almost cried.

– Why should I be afraid? Did I do something wrong?

We are sitting on a park bench outside a closed school in the summer in the Moldovan village of Sanatuka. Vera works here, but lives a few kilometers, on the other side of the Dniester.

SVT just asked her if she’s not afraid of getting into trouble now that she’s chosen to talk to a journalist about what happened to her son in Transnistria.

– People are afraid to say anything. But I’m not afraid. What should they do that they haven’t already done? Says.

In Transnistria, there is a government, police force, court and laws completely different from Moldova, despite the fact that the region legally and geographically belongs to this country.

14 months in solitude

Adrian Gligin, Vera’s 40-year-old son, was grazing his cows on the banks of the Dniester, when a car without a license plate stopped next to him and five masked men forced him to leave. A neighbor who was in the house watched the whole incident, and then Vera learned that her son had been kidnapped.

They imprisoned him for 14 months. in an isolated cell. Vera says keeping someone isolated for so long, it’s tough.

In May 2022, Adrian’s court proceedings were finally held. Neither his lawyer nor his family knew this. Adrian was sentenced to 13 years in prison for treason. The judgment cannot be read because it is classified.

“When they need something, they kidnap”

According to Ion Monoli, attorney and CEO of the nonprofit Promo Lex, cases like Adrian’s can be measured in the hundreds, if not thousands. On the same day Adrian was kidnapped, three other men, including a police officer and a customs officer, disappeared.

Tiraspol (the self-proclaimed capital of Transnistria) adopted this strategy. When they need something, they kidnap people, who then try to replace them with something or someone, he says.

Brief trials, kidnappings and torture are common phenomena in Transnistria. The biggest problem, according to Eon Monoli, is the complete absence of responsibility prevailing in the country.

Whoever commits these crimes knows that he will not be punished for them. It’s free to do whatever you want.