Lawyer Angela Procopciuc called on Moldovan law enforcement agencies to take necessary action in order to protect German citizen Friedrich Maier from human rights violations. According to the lawyer, the German was a "victim due to being too trustful".
At an IPN press conference, Angela Procopciuc said that a man from Bălți, while meeting with her client at a public conference on religious topics in Germany, suggested to start a business as co-owners. The German accepted the proposal. Due to the inability to be present in Moldova for the establishment of the company, Friedrich Maier granted the power of attorney to a representative. Some time later, the Moldovan co-owner started a civil litigation against the German in order to deprive him of his right of founder. After two years of court proceedings, a civil trial turned into a criminal one, about which the citizen of Germany did not know.
While being with his family in vacation in Bulgaria, Friedrich Maier was detained by local police officers on the grounds that he is being internationally wanted. Bulgaria refused the extradition of the German citizen to the Republic of Moldova as no reasonable evidence was presented as to the necessity of his detention and, as a result, released him. Friedrich Maier returned to Germany. In 2017, while on a service trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was detained again due to being wanted internationally, based on the same file. He was released because Moldovan authorities did not make available the requested confirmatory documents.
The lawyer said that her client asked the Prosecutor's Office to release copies of the indictments, the request for the preventive measure and other documents related to this file, however, she was not granted the requested documents. Additionally, Angela Procopciuc said that her client was investigated twice, which is prohibited.
Moreover, the lawyer said that she has challenged all the procedural documents issued by the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office in the case of her client. She presented evidence that Friedrich Maier does not avoid justice, he has a permanent residence in Germany, he wants to collaborate, he wants to be heard, he wants the investigation to carry on and for the truth to emerge. The examining magistrate rejected this request, as did the Court of Appeal. The lawyer said that the preventive measure has to be revoked, considering that her client was detained three times, in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Chișinău Airport, when another person with the same name was detained.
Angela Procopciuc said that she has also challenged the red notice regarding her client. An Interpol commission from France found that the German citizen was internationally wanted since 2009, based on a void arrest warrant, which is prohibited. Additionally, she said that the investigation of forgery of documents and seizure of assets in very large proportions should not be carried out by the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, because it is out of its jurisdiction.
In her last request to the Prosecutor's Office, the lawyer requested that the investigation be moved to the accused's place of residence in Germany, but for the time being she did not receive a response.
Friedrich Maier is accused of falsifying an official document while being aided by his representative. Moreover, his former partner alleged that he has been deprived of his share of the statutory capital by the German. According to the lawyer, her client said that he "trusted the Moldovans, but they conned him".
