The seven members of the Petrenco Group will continue to stay under house arrest, except for Oleg Buznea, who was transferred under judicial control for health reasons. On April 4, the Appeals Court rejected the lawyer’s appeal against the judgment of the Rascani Court, which extended the house arrest. The statements were made by Grigore Petrenco, who considers that he and his colleagues are kept under house arrest for political reasons. He expressed his regret at the fact that in the 21st century in Moldova there are yet persons who are persecuted according to political criteria, IPN reports.

“According to this decision, we will stay under arrest until April 26. The Chisinau Appeals Court upheld the decision of the Rascani Court. It didn’t take into account the fact that I received an invitation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to take part in its spring session of April 18-23 as an honorific member of the PACE,” said Grigore Petrenco. He also said that a number of such invitations from the PACE were rejected since September, when he was arrested.

The politician considers it is abnormal for political prisoners to exist in a Council of Europe member state. He stated that the protest mounted in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office on September 6, 2015 was peaceful and none of the members of the group poses threats to the people, if only to the first deputy chairman of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc and the criminal group organized by the Democratic Party.

Grigore Petrenco also said that on April 28 it will be six months since the case was sent to court and the detention period can no longer be extended. “If the prosecutors ask for an extension, this will mean that they want us to stay under arrested until September, when it will be a year of detention,” he stated.

The members of the Petrenco Group were arrested on September 6, 2015 following a protest with altercations staged in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The protesters demanded to hold politician Vlad Plahotniuc accountable for his wrongdoings.

On February 22, the Rascani Court accepted the Socialist MPs’ application and transferred the group members from remand detention under house arrested.