A group of MPs of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) filed a repeated application, asking that former Liberal-Democratic Prime Minister Vlad Filat should be transferred from remand detention to house arrest under their personal guarantee. Similar requests were made by representatives of civil society and members of Moldova’s first Parliament. The announcement was made by the leader of the parliamentary group of the PLDM Tudor Deliu, who on April 19 went to the Buiucani Court where a new hearing in the case of Vlad Filat was held, IPN reports.
“We came with a new personal guarantee request. Similar requests were made by the Association of Refugees, the Association of People of Arts and a number of members of the first Parliament. But the court of law didn’t examine the applications. The prosecutors asked to extend the remand detention for another 30 days and the judge hasn’t yet pronounced on this request. We hope all the judges will pronounce. We consider the trial is being delayed and we convinced ourselves that this is a political case,” stated the Liberal-Democratic MP.
Tudor Deliu added that when Vlad Filat went out of the judge’s office, he and his colleagues were pushed away as if they were animals, while Vlad Filat was pushed from behind and was close to falling on the stairs. “I think those who direct such actions fear the people’s revolt,” he stated.
The application on behalf of the PLDM was signed by MPs Tudor Deliu, Anghel Agache, Maria Ciobanu, Vadim Pistrinciuc, and Grigore Cobzac. The MPs submitted a similar application at the beginning of March and this was rejected by the judges.
Lawyer Igor Popa said that he made a number of requests today, including to make the hearings public. There are not reasons for these to be held behind closed doors because the prosecutors presented their evidence, while the witnesses for the prosecution were questioned. They also asked that Vlad Filat should be allowed to talk to the press because a lot of false information is disseminated and he has the right to reply to any report that concerns him. This request was rejected. Another request, to change the form of detention, as well as the request to make the hearings public will be examined in the April 21 hearing.
Contacted by IPN, state prosecutor Adriana Betisor said that before the defense’s requests, she filed an application by which she asked to extend the remand detention for another 30 days. Thus, the court is to examine this applicant first. The prosecutor noted that she didn’t manage to see all the applications submitted by the defense, but, as far as she noticed, the reasoning is the same, especially as regards the modification of the form of arrest.
Vlad Filat was deprived of parliamentary immunity and arrested on October 15, 2015. The ex-Premier is accused of influence peddling and passive corruption and faces 7 to 15 years behind bars and ban on holding public posts. He pleads not guilty.
