The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (APO) expressed its concern about the conduct of the contest to fill the position of prosecutor general and its results, including the behavior of a member of the Superior Council of Prosecutors and a candidate during the public hearings. The institution noted that it will request to convoke the General Assembly of Prosecutors with physical presence, IPN reports.

“The General Assembly of Prosecutors that was convened online for February 29, 2024 will not provide a real opportunity for stating the individual and institutional opinion and also for voting on particular issues related to the possible consequences of the recent behavior,” reads a press release issued by APO.

The institution considers that the entire body of prosecutors must debate, state their opinion and decide how this contest took place and what measures should be taken to avoid such situations in the future.

The Superior Council of Prosecutors on Wednesday was supposed to approve the results of the contest to choose the candidate for the post of prosecutor general, but after examining a number of requests from the candidates and after long deliberations, it decided to stop the contest.

The Council revoked its own February 22 decision concerning the results of the interview stage in which Octavian Yakimovski, deputy chief prosecutor of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, got the highest score. The SCP decided to revoke it “in connection with facts that emerged later and in order not to jeopardize the public interest”.

Prosecutor general Alexandru Stoianoglo was suspended from office at the beginning of October 2021 and was dismissed at the end of September 2023. The presidential decree to dismiss him was based on the SCP’s decision according to which Stoianoglo’s performance in office was unsatisfactorily. The post was held on an interim basis by Dumitru Robu and then by Ion Munteanu.