Vlad Plahotniuc’s lawyers requested the recusal of prosecutor Alexandru Cernei during a hearing at the Court of Appeal. They accused him of presenting false and inaccurate information to the court in an attempt to mislead the judges. The prosecutor denied the allegations, arguing that the recusal request merely reflected the defence’s disagreement with the prosecution’s position. The judges rejected the request, IPN reports.

Lawyer Lucian Rogac stated during the hearing that the defense had also requested a constitutional review of the legal provisions governing the composition of the judicial panel. The lawyers are challenging the removal of a judge from the panel and maintain that his replacement was not randomly assigned through the Integrated Case Management System, but was instead appointed by the court’s president. The court is deliberating on the request.

The defence also insisted that Vladimir Andronachi be heard, arguing that his testimony could challenge the assumptions on which the trial court’s judgment was allegedly based. The prosecutor, however, pointed out that Andronachi had declined to testify to avoid incriminating himself, and the request was therefore denied.

According to prosecutor Alexandru Cernei, by the time he spoke to the press, the court had considered around 30 motions filed by the defence, most of which had been rejected. He explained that some of the motions had not been submitted to the trial court and therefore could not be accepted on appeal.

Vlad Plahotniuc attended the hearing via videoconference.

Former Democratic Party leader Vlad Plahotniuc was sentenced by a court of first instance in April to 19 years in prison in the “Bank Fraud” case. Both his lawyers and prosecutors appealed the ruling to the Court of Appeal.