Prosecutor Adriana Betisor said the five prosecution witnesses questioned in a new hearing in the case of ex-Premier Vlad Filat on March 30 confirmed the prosecutors’ version. However, the lawyers for Filat say that these witnesses rather incriminate themselves, IPN reports.

Filat’s lawyer Igor Popa noted that if this trial had been public, there would have been no room for speculations and lies. “In general, these witnesses should be probably investigated for their acts. They rather incriminate themselves, not Vlad Filat. For example, one of the witnesses admitted that, in complicity with Ilan Shor, he organized the transfer of money so that this reached Shor faster. It hasn’t been yet proven that Vlad Filat benefitted from this money. We insist that the prosecutors and judges should accept our request to make the hearings public,” stated the lawyer.

The next hearing was set for March 31, 10:30am. The witnesses for the prosecution will be again questioned in this. The about 30 defense witnesses will be questioned when all the prosecution witnesses give testimony.

Vlad Filat was deprived of parliamentary immunity and arrested on October 15, 2015. The ex-Premier is accused of traffic of influence and passive corruption and faces 7 to 15 years behind bars. He pleads not guilty.