The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases said that a criminal case was started over the appointment of a new judge at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova in April 2021.

The move was preceded by a complaint submitted by MPs Sergiu Litvinenco and Virgiliu Pâslariuc, which was rejected by order of the Prosecutor General’s Office in two day of its filing. The MPs later challenged the order and the Chisinau Appeals Court accepted their request and ordered to register the complaint, IPN reports.

Boris Lupașcu was named Constitutional Court judge by the votes of the Socialist and For Moldova MPs on April 23, 2021 after the same MPs revoked the Parliament’s decision by which Domnica Manole was appointed CC judge and named Boris Lupașcu in her place. The two decisions, concerning the revocation of the aforementioned decision and regarding the appointment of Lupașcu, were declared unconstitutional on April 27.

In this case, the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases is investigating the usurpation of the official capacity by the person who took up as CC judge and the usurpation of power in the state by maintaining and exercising state power in breach of the Constitution in the interests of an organized criminal group, the institution said in a press release.