7 year sentence for German chancellor's motorcade attacker

Iurie Valcov, young Moldovan who in August 2012 attacked the motorcade of visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison for "aggravated hooliganism." Maria Vieru, head of the press service of the Prosecutor General, said that magistrates fully accepted the request of prosecutors for sentencing the young man to seven years in jail, according to news reaching here from Chisinau, capital city of Moldova. The sentence was dictated by Rascani District Court of Chisinau, but Valcov has the right to appeal. Valcov will spend actually the next 13 years behind bars, as four months ago he was previously sentenced to eight years in prison for other crimes, including thefts and robberies. Thus, "taking into account that he was already sentenced to eight years in prison, by partially overlapping penalties, the court sentenced him to 13 years in prison," said Vieru. The mayor of Valcov's hometown Taraclia has told local media that the young has serious mental problems, but he refused to undergo a psychiatric expertise. According to earlier reports, Rascani prosecutor Igor Popa argued that Valcov tried "to show disapproval of the actions of the police officers who arrested him earlier for a crime he claims he did not commit." "The boy said he wanted to show the reality of our country to the German official," said the prosecutor, stating that the defendant would be in a state of narcotic intoxication when he threw "Molotov" on German chancellor column.