The Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM) confirms that Judge Oleg Melniciuc remains the subject of several open criminal cases.

In the latest one, in May 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office asked the CSM to consent to the prosecution of Judge Melniciuc on sexual harassment charges. The request was dismissed, but in October 2023, the Chisinau Court of Appeal ordered the CSM to re-examine the matter.

“Therefore, the Superior Council of Magistracy is to re-examine the request. Indeed, in connection with this case, Judge Melniciuc has not been suspended from office. However, it should be stressed, to exclude any ambiguity, that at the moment Judge Oleg Melniciuc does not hear cases and does not receive a salary, because he was suspended from office in 2022 following the Anenii Noi Court ruling which found him guilty in another case, namely the criminal case of illicit enrichment”, the CSM said in a statement.

The criminal case is currently pending before the Chisinau Court of Appeal, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 26.

The clarifications come after Sergiu Caraman, the acting CSM president, discussed Judge Melniciuc in a TV show.

Oleg Melniciuc is the first judge to be charged with illicit enrichment. In September 2021, he was sentenced by the Anenii Noi Court to seven years in a closed prison. But the sentence is not definitive. Melniciuc pleads not guilty.