The Chisinau Court of Appeals today upheld the decision of the Buiucani District Court that rejected ex-prime minister Vlad Filat’s request for a review of his first case. Filat’s lawyers criticized today’s ruling as “manifestly illegal”, planning to take it to the Supreme Court after its complete version is released on June 4.
Lawyer Victor Munteanu told reporters the defense believed that the inadmissibility decision violated both domestic procedural rules and ECHR case-law. “I’m talking specifically about the judicial impartiality principle: a judge who had rendered a judgment of conviction in a particular case may not decide on whether to reopen that case or not”.
In June 2016, Vlad Filat was sentenced to 9 years in jail on corruption charges. About two months ago his lawyers requested a review of his case, which was rejected by the district court in late March.
Meanwhile, Filat is to stand trial in a second case where he faces 10 more years in prison on money laundering charges. The case has been put on hold as the defence requested a constitutional interpretation, a move criticized by the prosecutors as dilatory tactics.
