The case featuring ALDE chairwoman Arina Spătaru is an innovation for the Republic of Moldova, said the head of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) Iulian Rusu. According to him, even if Arina Spătaru asked the NAC to provide her with bodyguards, the request was remitted to prosecutors. The special investigative measures involving Arinei Spătaru were authorized only on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and they didn’t cooperate with other states in this case, IPN reports.
According to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, the chairwoman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Arina Spătaru was authorized to act ‘under cover’ after she was questioned as a witness about the discussions she had with Ilan Shor in Israel. Special investigative measures involving Arina Spătaru hadn’t been authorized or conducted in Israel. The NAC chief said the institution he heads offered support to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office in this case only at the initial stage.
“This is a special case in terms of the applied instruments. It is an innovation for the Republic of Moldova. This case was almost fully dealt with by colleagues from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office with the assistance of other authorities. We intervened at the initial stage. As far as I know, all the special investigative measures were carried out on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Under the regulations on cooperation in criminal matters, if joint operations with other states are performed, both of the sides need to become involved. As the colleagues from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office specified, this case didn’t consist of such episodes,” Iulian Rusu stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei channel.
After informing in public about her cooperation with prosecutors to reveal the methods of illegal party funding applied by fugitive politician Ilan Shor, Arina Spătaru asked that the NAC should ensure her protection.
“Such a decision is taken by the prosecutor. This is stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code. We redirect this request and guard is provided by the Ministry of the Interior,” said the NAC director.
On September 22, ex-MP Arina Spătaru announced that she had cooperated with the law enforcement agencies in the case of illegal party funding by the criminal group Shor. According to her, in the discussions she had with fugitive Ilan Shor, the latter admitted that the benefits from Russia’s support for thwarting the European course of the Republic of Moldova.
