Lawyers in Moldova, especially the most vocal ones, are being intimidated into silence so that they can no longer defend their clients, say lawyers Vadim Vieru, Dumitru Buliga and Cristina Sultan. According to them, a lawyer who is intimidated or persecuted becomes vulnerable and, in order to avoid this, legal safeguards must be ensured in a practical way.

During a press conference, Dumitru Buliga said that there have been multiple cases of lawyers suffering from intimidation. Specifically, criminal cases have been started against “high-principled” lawyers. The same is now happening to lawyer Igor Hlopețchi, whom Buliga represents in a case.

Hlopețchi is accused of making false statements in court about one of his clients. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is now prosecuting him on defamation charges, but Buliga says the actual goal is to “stop (Hlopețchi) from being so vocal” in some high-profile cases.

Lawyer Vadim Vieru pleaded for the independence of lawyers and for them not to be subjected to any form of repression, regardless of the clients they defend. “Lawyers, especially lawyers who do their job in a way that does not suit the prosecutors, that is, they do it quite well and do not give their ground, are persecuted like Igor Hlopețchi. From what I could see, I think this criminal case is abusive”, noted Vadim Vieru.

Cristina Sultan agreed that fellow lawyers feel vulnerable. “Virtually every one of my colleagues has faced a situation of persecution”. As for Hlopețchi’s case, she thinks the accusations are baseless.