The Appeals Court’s decision is mandatory and Ilan Shor should be transferred to jail from this moment, said the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office Veronica Dragalin. According to her, even if the Appeals Court’s decision can be challenged in the Supreme Court of Justice, the sentence became obligatory and the SCJ’s decision can be awaited in jail. The definitive sentence passed by the Appeals Court is a solid argument for the Moldovan authorities to obtain the extradition of Ilan Shor from Israel, IPN reports.
On Thursday, the Appeals Court sentenced the fugitive politician Ilan Shor to 15 years in jail in the bank fraud case. Veronica Dragalin noted that property to the value of 1 billion lei, which is owned by Ilan Shor in Moldova, was confiscated and is to be transferred to the state.
“It is a decision that the citizens of the Republic of Moldova have waited for a long period of time, as did the prosecutors of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, who handled the case at the investigation stage. The decision is definitive. In the bank fraud case, property to the value of over 7 billion lei was sequestrated, but this is not the property of Ilan Shor only. The sum justified by prosecutors as possessed by Ilan Shor and persons closed to him is of 1 billion lei. This is property situated in Moldova. A gate was now opened. If we identity assets owned by Shor abroad, this court decision can be executed outside the country too,” Veronica Dragalin stated in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
The chief anticorruption prosecutor noted that the Ministry of Justice is the one that manages the procedure for extraditing Ilan Shor. The Appeals Court’s decision is a solid argument in favor of Shor’s extradition from Israel so that he serves the time in jail in Moldova. The Israeli authorities
waited for a decision as the Appeals Court could have acquitted Ilan Shor and the extradition would have been useless.
“Contrary to the first court’s decision, the sentence can be now executed. After this decision, the person must go to jail. If the decision is disputed in the Supreme Court of Justice, the person can wait for the judgment in court. The decision does not depend on the person’s will. It is mandatory. The person can be transferred by force to jail. In Interpol, the arrest will be made if Ilan Shor will go also to other countries except Israel. The authorities in Israel can recognize the sentence and the time in jail can be served in Israel. This is an option,’ explained Veronica Dragalin.
The fugitive politician Ilan Shor asserted that the Appeals Court’s decision is illegal, taken under pressure and in breach of all the legal provisions. He expressed his conviction that the court’s judgment will be annulled the next day after the PAS government is replaced.
