The representatives of a number of civil society organizations proposed a bill to supplement a number of legal acts called generically the Magnitsky Law. The document defines three basic elements. The blocking of access to the banking system for persons who had a criminal behavior at international level and were put on international lists as undesirable is the first element. The banning of entry into Moldova for persons who distinguished themselves by serious human rights violations and by stealing large sums of money from budgetary systems is the second element. The confiscation of property obtained by fraud or money laundering is the third element. The authors consider the adoption of this law could be a clear signal to the international community that Moldova realizes the threats it faced and it ready to penalize the persons who are directly involved in reprehensible acts.
In a news conference at IPN, director of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Igor Munteanu said the Magnitsky Law will help meet the integrity standards. Everything started in 2009, when lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was arrested and held for 358 days for opposing the federal prosecution system of Russia, protesting against the defrauding of the federal budget and the laundering of 5.4 billion rubles. The lawyer was ultimately tortured and killed in remand detention, without enjoying independent justice. As a result of this case, a number of states submitted initiatives to protect those who struggle for the integrity of the administrative-political systems. In 2012, the U.S. Congress adopted a law of responsibility devoted to Sergei Magnitsky. Appreciating the example of the U.S. Congress, the parliaments of Canada, the UK, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania adopted similar laws with symbolical names devoted to Sergei Magnitsky, by which they imposed penalties on particular persons for acts of corruption, human rights violations and other types of offenses.
“Why is a Magnitsky Law so important for the Republic of Moldova? Because there is the necessity of internationalizing cases when persons from outside and inside the Republic of Moldova tried to use public money in the own interests and to facilitate massive international transactions in an illegal way. The Republic of Moldova needs to clean its government systems by meeting these integrity standards and by contributing names of persons who could be penalized internationally for what happened in the banking sector and for the famous Russian Laundromat,” stated Igor Munteanu.
Transparency International Moldova executive director Lilia Carashchuk said corruption and money laundering expand worldwide. The initiative adopted by the U.S. is not only an act that substitutes justice. It is an attempt to protect the country from persons with “dirty hands”. This initiative didn’t stop to the U.S. and expands globally. In the states where the Magnitsky Law is applied, this was adopted unanimously despite the internal struggles in those legislatures. In Moldova, there is a system by which they rob the banking system and contribute to laundering Russian money and then try to legalize this money by different initiatives and later propose all kinds of strategies for recovering the money, but which are not linked to the two Kroll reports.
Expert of the Association WatchDog.MD Community Sergiu Tofilat said the Magnitsky Law clearly targets the corrupt public functionaries from any corner of the world who steal public funds and persecute, torture and kill those activists who denounce such cases. “This will be, how chemist say, a litmus test that will show the real face of the government and its real intentions, especially in relation to the foreign partners,” he stated.
Stefan Gligor, programs director at the Center for Politics and Reforms, said that today the European Parliament adopted an unprecedented resolution by message, content and importance. It is for the first time in the past ten years that a so harsh and trenchant resolution is adopted on Moldova and by which they clearly say to the government that the European institutions know in detail what’s going on in this country and they cannot be manipulated, misled or lied to. One of the points of this resolution says the European institutions regret the fact that no thorough and credible investigation into the banking fraud has been conducted since 2014 and this undermines trust in the justice system. The people’s confidence in the state institutions should be restored and the separation of powers in the state should be ensured, while the Magnitsky Law is one of those concrete actions by which the authorities can show that they want to align with the Western states and democracies that do not allow money laundering, do not allow using justice, do not tolerate torture in penitentiaries, etc.
The draft Magnitsky Law is to be transmitted to MPs.
