The handing over of two Moldovan border police officers for being investigated for smuggling by the Romanian authorities in 2014 is challenged by the lawyer for the two. In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer demanded to check the legality of the actions taken by the then head of the Border Police Department Dorin Purice and other persons holding responsible posts at this institution and at the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, who contributed to the handover of Iurie Volceanov and Ivan Musteață.
According to lawyer Valeri Astafiev, the two officers on May 2, 2014 were invited to the Albița frontier post on the initiative of the Romanian side, being then arrested by the authorities of Romania. “In the period, our attempts to clarify the situation met with threats on the part of the head of the Effective Inspection Division Anatolii Țurțurică,” stated the lawyer.
He noted he made multiple approaches to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Prosecutor General’s Office and other institutions, but no one wanted to solve the problem. “Currently, things are evident. The actions of Dorin Purice and his inferiors were protected by prosecutor general Corneliu Gurin and anticorruption prosecutor Eduard Harunjen,” said Valeri Astafiev.
According to him, in times of war the handover of the two officers would have been classified as treason.
Isac Tarlapan, who then headed the West Regional Division of the Border Police Department, was a witness to the events of 2014. He said he took part in the meeting of May 2014 without knowing the end result. “It was for the first time in the Republic of Moldova that not only officers, but also citizens were handed over to another state for being punished,” stated Isac Tarlapan.
Iurie Volcianov, one of the two officers, said he will never forget what he and his family had to endure. “I want to say one thing – I worked honesty and lived honestly,” he stated, adding he was pressed to leave his post and keep silent.
For his part, Ivan Mustață said they had to look well to find a ‘smuggler’ like him. He does not have a bike at least.
Oleg Fediko, chairman of the public association “Border Guards Association” of Moldova, said that in his career he had many meetings with representatives of the neighboring states and proceedings were written after these meetings. “We must have a cooperation plan with the neighboring states, but we whenever had cases when operational officers, who know more than simple officers, were arrested. They allowed an officer to be arrested on Romania’s territory. Someone wanted the arrest not to be made on Moldova’s territory,” he stated.
Dorin Purice presented details of the case in another news conference at IPN.
