A series of civil society organizations condemn the “calumnious and unacceptable” statements made by the prosecutor general about NGOs, independent media outlets and development partners. “These point to lack of understanding of civil society’s and prosecution service’s role in a society based on the rule of law,” says a statement signed by the SCOs.
The signatories say that Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo in a news conference on October 4 said that some of the SCOs, independent media outlets and development partners are involved in his discrediting and blaming. A document that was published on the PGO’s website the same day presents images from the cellphone of a former prosecutor, which show the correspondence between this and several representatives of civil society and of the diplomatic corps. This correspondence dates from December 2019 and contains information about the PGO.
In his statement, the Prosecutor General referred to two studies launched in September 2021 by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) and the Legal Resource Center from Moldova (CRJM). When presenting the analyses and formulating recommendations for the justice sector, IPRE and CRJM abided by the public interest and used official data published by the PGO. The documents were presented in that period because their launch was put off owing to the election campaign. The conclusions of those studies weren’t challenged by prosecutors. Moreover, similar analyses were carried out by CRJM before the appointment of Alexandr Stoianoglo as prosecutor general.
According to the signatories, the accusations made by the prosecutor general were aimed at distracting public attention from the problems faced in the prosecution service, such as the lack of progress in investigating the bank fraud and the Laundromat, for which the prosecutor general was criticized by the whole society. Also, the prosecutor general launched his attack the day there were published a number of investigations based on documents of #PandoraPapers, which reveal cases of grand corruption and laundering of money through tax heavens, diverting attention from these.
Among the signatories of the statement are the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, the Foreign Policy Association, the Association of Independent Press, Promo-LEX, Expert-Grup, the Legal Resource Center from Moldova and the Institute for European Policies and Reforms.
In a press conference on October 4, Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo said that he became “the first and main target” in the war against corruption announced by the PAS government. According to the prosecutor, a campaign to discredit him was planned with the direct involvement of criminal groups and politicians, through the agency of a network of NGOs and so-called independent experts. Stoianoglo made reference to a number of events and studies presented by IPRE, saying that the PGO’s activity is criticized in these. Moreover, he said representatives of the Institute supported the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office Viorel Morari and these have communicated with him.
