Counselors for Shor Party MP Marina Tauber claim the criminal case against her is mostly based on “guesswork and insinuation”, and the decisions to place her in preventive arrest and extend the detention further are “abusive”.

Describing her client as a “political detainee” who is “intentionally locked away to keep her silent”, Tauber’s lawyers told a press conference that they will seek a meeting on Friday with the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Veronica Dragalin “to prove to her with evidence, documents and papers that there is no need to detain Marina Tauber” in a remand prison.

Lawyer Aureliu Colenco insisted there are no legal grounds for Tauber’s arrest, which is seen as a way to prevent Tauber from speaking to the press and the people. He added that during Tauber’s initial 30-day stay in the remand prison, she was never interrogated, “not once”. Also, he claims, prosecutors failed to include any new evidence to justify the extension of her arrest.

Moreover, Colenco says the court “baselessly” rejected a written account from the Russian pop star Philipp Kirkorov who declared he never received payment from the Shor Party for a failed concert, which is supposed to exonerate Tauber.

Tauber’s lawyers also voiced allegations of political pressure against the opposition lawmaker, while the Shor Party’s chief counselor Vadim Banaru went as far as to allege that the prosecutors assigned to the case were promised “unofficial” fees and job promotions.