Parliament on Thursday evening voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of MP Ilan Shor, the leader of the political party named after him. Hence, Ilan Shor can be detained, arrested, searched and arraigned, according to the interim prosecutor general Dumitru Robu, for "abuse of office in the interest of an organized criminal group", IPN reports.
Dumitru Robu told MPs that "at this moment the Prosecutor's Office has conclusive evidence that Ilan Shor was involved as bank administrator in the committing of imputed crime". The interim general prosecutor also said the lifting of immunity is needed with a view "to starting urgent criminal prosecution, required, in order to avoid the destruction, concealment, substitution of evidence and alienation of goods resulting from the crime."
According to Dumitru Robu, "carrying out criminal prosecution in this case and lifting immunity could help finding the accomplices and beneficiaries of bank fraud". "Certain urgent measures and actions are necessary, which without lifting immunity become impossible, otherwise the progress of criminal prosecution would be affected. The entire society wants to find out what really happened in the bank fraud case, " the interim Prosecutor General said.
In reply to deputies’ questions, Dumitru Robu says that "the process of elucidation is barely commencing in all the cases related to the bank fraud", and if the involvement of other persons, including MPs, is established, the immunity lifting procedure will be initiated in their regards as well. He also states that he does not take orders from anyone, that he is guided only by the Constitution and the country’s laws. According to him, new and already known facts have been established during the investigations.
While taking the floor concerning the request, MP Alexandru Slusari (ACUM/DA) said that what happened in Parliament regarding Ilan Shor occurred with a five-year delay. He also said that the other deputies of the mentioned party should be next, following their leader, in terms of immunity lifting and being held accountable.
According to the Socialist deputy Vlad Batrîncea, until now the Republic of Moldova has had no actual Prosecutor's office. None of the prosecutors has done anything so far in order to investigate the bank fraud case in what concerns the "criminal group". "Nobody really investigated anything," the Socialist said.
Mihai Popșoi (ACUM/PAS),mentioned that Ilan Shor was "a tragic figure of Moldovan politics and business", being "used by the country’s leadership". "He let himself be tempted by money and had no respect for the law, following obediently all the orders given to him”, the deputy said.
The MPs of the Shor group walked out in protest.