The lawyers for the suspended prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo said the current developments go beyond any legal limit and represent a case of abuse and defiance of the law that is probably witnessed in the Republic of Moldova for the first time. The defenders said that the post of prosecutor general was taken over by illegal methods. It goes to the decision to assign a prosecutor to deal with this case that was taken by the Superior Council of Prosecutors, the way in which the criminal case was started, within two hours, and the formulation of absurd accusations based on press reports.
In a news conference at IPN, lawyer Victor Munteanu said that after Parliament adopted a declaration on state capture, he was sure that those times will no longer repeat. In his first speech as the prosecutor general, Alexandr Stoianoglo transmitted a trenchant message - that the Prosecutor’s Office will abide exclusively by the principle of observance of the human rights and the principle of legality. It will not be turned into an instrument for satisfying particular interests. Changes started to be felt. The exertion of pressure, starting of criminal cases by order and arrests by order stopped.
What’s happening to Alexandr Stoianoglo today is an evident offense and the whole society should realize that everything was done for one purpose – to discredit and to humiliate publicly Alexandr Stoianoglo and to take over the post of prosecutor general, stated the lawyer.
According to Victor Munteanu, the accusations made against the prosecutor general are absurd. In the first episode, Stoianoglo is accused of signing and putting forward a bill to amend the legation in 2011, when he was heading the Parliament’s legal commission for appointments and immunities. The prosecutor in charge of the case considers this bill paved the way for the so-called ”Laundromat”. During the 30 years of independence, no MP was persecuted criminally for the vote given in Parliament after public debates. Moreover, according to the Constitution, an MP cannot be held accountable for a vote.
In the second episode, they say that Stoianoglo’s wife in January 2021 became the beneficiary of two companies based in Ukraine. Victor Munteanu noted that this is a crass and primitive fabrication aimed at discrediting and at pressing the prosecutor general to resign.
The defender also said that the statements of the so-called denouncer, MP Lilian Carp, are based only on press reports and all the evidence attached to the request to issue an arrest warrant is also based on press reports.
Another lawyer for Stoianoglo, Vasile Gafton, said that four criminal cases were started and merged into one procedure. The day the Superior Council of Prosecutors adopted its decision concerning the assigning of the prosecutor in charge of this case, Alexandr Stoianoglo challenged the decision in the Chisinau Appeals Court. “In accordance with the law, as a lawsuit was filed and a suspension request was made, the SCP’s decision was suspended. Therefore, all the actions taken by the prosecutor in charge of the case are illegal, such as the starting of criminal cases, the arrest and other investigative measures. We filed a complaint in this regard,” said the lawyer. He noted that a new complaint is to be filed as Alexandr Stoianoglo is held illegally under house arrest. “I hope the acting prosecutor general, the current administration of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the prosecutor in charge of the case will attentively read the new complaint and will drop this criminal case that is illegal,” stated Vasile Gafton.
