Between 1969 and 1971, the National Patriotic Front of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina was established by several young intellectuals in
Chişinău, totalling over 100 members, vowing to fight for the establishment of a
Moldavian Democratic Republic, its secession from the
Soviet Union and union with
Romania. Among the party's members were
Alexandru Usatiuc-Bulgăr,
Valeriu Graur,
Alexandru Şoltoianu,
Gheorghe Ghimpu,
Nicolae Lupan,
Tudor Basarabeanu,
Nicolae Testemiţeanu,
Valeriu Gagiu,
Mihai Cimpoi,
Mircea Druc,
Anatol Corobceanu,
Vasile Topală. In December 1971, following an informative note from Ion Stănescu, the President of the
Council of State Security of the
Romanian Socialist Republic, to
Yuri Andropov, the chief of
KGB,
Alexandru Usatiuc-Bulgăr as well as
Valeriu Graur,
Alexandru Şoltoianu, and
Gheorghe Ghimpu were arrested and sentenced in 1972 to four to seven years in prison, followed by
forced settlement. Alexandru Şoltoianu was released only in 1988. Alexandru Usatiuc-Bulgăr was condemned to seven years in prison and five years of forced residence. == Leaders ==