A group of councilors of the Dubasari District Council express their concern about the arrest of the head of Dubasari district Grigore Polichinski, which they describe as abusive and unfounded. In a news conference at IPN, the councilors requested that the district’s head should be set free and that the investigation be conducted equidistantly and apolitically. If these requests are ignored, the councilors intend to resort to radical measures, including protests.

“We consider the accusations made against him are based on the erroneous and ambiguous interpretation of the legal framework. None of the accusations made against the district’s heads are reasonable,” secretary of the Dubasari District Council Sergiu Grigoriev said, reading a statement signed by a group of councilors.

The councilors said the head of Dubasari district is a professional with over 20 years’ experience in public administration. Grigore Polichinski held two terms in office as mayor of Dorotcaia village and now holds his fourth term as head of district. His tenure as district head is the longest in Moldova and this shows that he is trusted. He worked on the group for monitoring the National Anticorruption Strategy of the National Anticorruption Center. Since 2010, he has been a member of Moldova’s delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Polichinski also possesses a number of state awards.

“Mister Polichinski is a real patriot who, by assiduous work, contributes to creating and maintaining political and economic stability in the 15 settlements of the country’s security zone. His arrest can have serious consequences for the region and can generate new challenges and destabilization of the situation. The actions of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office affect the country’s image and the image of the authority it represents,” said Sergiu Grigoriev.

The councilors called on all the international organizations that have representative offices in Moldova to intervene and support the head of Dubasari district and to monitor this case that forms part of other arrests that were based on the standard formulation “abuse of power”.

The head of Dubasari district Grigore Polichinski was arrested at the Chisinau International Airport when he was returning from a vacation from Turkey on September 26. The functionary is accused of abuse of power, causing of considerable damage to the public interests and abuse of power with serious consequences.