Valeriu Pasat was acquitted from “MiGs” chapter

The Court of Appeal discharged, on Monday, October 16, the ex-Minister of Defense, Valeriu Pasat from the “MiGs” indictment. Thus his term of imprisonment was reduced to 5 years. Previously, Centru District Court convicted him to 10 years of imprisonment. Gheorghe Amihalachioaie, one of Pasat’s lawyers told a news conference the court proved that all those accusations brought to Pasat in the respective chapter are false. According to his words, Pasat pleaded that not guilty on the other indictment, in which he is accused with illegally selling reactive fight systems “Uragan” and rockets at low prices. Amihalachioaie declared that he will appeal the decision in the Supreme Court of Justice where he will request total exculpation of his client. Alexandru Tanase, another lawyer representing Pasat, declared that, both the accusation brought in the MiGs indictment, and that in the “Uragan” chapter do not have anything substantial. Tanase assumes that the decision to acquit his client from this indictment is based on political interests. By discharging Pasat, automatically, any pretension for the USA Government in what concerns the legality of the Agreement on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction of 1997 will be taken off. Leonid Gozman, representative of the Russian company RAO EES, where Pasat holds the counselor function, declared that the company he represents never believed in Passat’s guiltiness and will use all legal actions for setting him free. “The fact that he was unjustly convicted to 5 years is not better than an illegal conviction to 10 years”, the cited source affirmed. The Ex-Minister of Defense was arrested on March 11, 2005, under the accusation of embezzlement resulted from selling, in 1997, 21 strike fighters MiG-29. On March 18, Valeriu Pasat was officially placed under accusation. On March 22, the General Public Prosecution Office initiated another penal proceeding on his name, on the article 327(2) Penal Code – abuse committed by a person carrying an official function. Pasat was also sentenced for the fact that, while acting as Minister of Defense, he would have initiated and realized an illegal transaction with the company JOI Slovakia, concerning the selling of reactive fight systems “Uragan” and of rockets to them at low prices. On January 17, current year, the Centru District Court sentenced Pasat to 10 years of prison.