A number of NGOs signed a statement whereby they express their disagreement with the way in which Eduard Harunjen was invested prosecutor general. They say the appointment of the prosecutor general in such a hurry seriously affects confidence in the prosecution service and fuel suspicions that this was done for a hidden purpose, IPN reports.

The NGOs demand that the President of Moldova should make public the information about the verification of the integrity of the candidate for the post of prosecutor general, provided by the Security and Intelligence Service. “We demand that the prosecutor general should provide public explanations so as to exclude any doubt about the legal origin of his property and actions related to the tragic events of April 2009, in which he was involved. We request that the National Integrity Commission, immediately after it becomes functional, should check the property of the prosecutor general,” reads the statement.

Press reports that appeared in 2013 and 2016 generate suspicions as to the integrity and irreproachable reputation of the candidate for prosecutor general. These refer to property that does not match the incomes. The signatories say it is strange that the members of the Superior Council of Prosecutors posed no question on the issue.

The civil society members remind that the population’s confidence in justice continues to decrease, while the appointment of a person whose integrity is doubted as prosecutor general in such a hurry will only increase the people’s distrust in the prosecution service.

The statement was signed by Amnesty International Moldova, PROMO-LEX, the Association for Participatory Democracy, the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, the Association of Independent Press, the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption, the Women’s Law Center, Transparency International Moldova and others.