The instruction to start a political case didn’t always come from Vlad Plahotniuc (ex-leader of PDM who is now wanted, e.n.). Most of the instructions were given by loyal persons who wanted to show their devotion to the chiefs from Chisinau, said lawyer Anatolie Istrate.

“In some of the cases, instructions were given directly, like in the case of Renato Usatyi and other clients. But most of the cases were started by loyal persons who worked at the local level and needed to show their devotion to the chiefs from Chisinau. It was in fashion to impose mayors or influential persons at the local level to join a party, the Democratic Party, and when the person refused, problems started,” the lawyer stated in an interview for IPN News Agency.

Anatolie Istrate said that he and his wife started to provide legal assistance to the opposition in 2012. The intimidations started then and continue. The situation was more serous in the period between 2016 and the summer of 2019, when his family had been followed. Those who followed him knew when he went to work, when he left and whom he met. Their telephone conversations were tapped. “The most painful thing for a lawyer is when the clients are threatened so that they abandoned the lawyers if they wanted their problem to be solved. This was an illusion as the problem wasn’t solved anyway until the court passed judgment,” stated the lawyer.

Anatolie Istrate noted that he had big expectations of Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, that this can change the situation in the prosecution service, but nothing happened. “Mister Stoianoglo should leave. He didn’t change the situation in the prosecution service and only dealt with prosecutors who, knowing the situation, are in a kind of personal relations,” he said.

According to the lawyer, a new justice sector reform is needed to clean the legal system of the Republic of Moldova. The work done by prosecutors, judges and investigation officers in 2012-2020 should be assessed. When this is done, many of the prosecutors and judges will leave voluntarily. A reform is also needed at the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office as these institutions face problems in their activity.
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The interview was conducted as part of IPN News Agency’s project “Injustice Revealed through Multimedia”.