The video recordings that are part of the case generically known as “The Black Bag”, featuring Igor Dodon, Vlad Plahotniuc, and Serghei Iaralov, are copies of original materials, and experts have not been able to determine whether they fully correspond to the originals. The conclusions appear in a forensic expertise report, examined at the Supreme Court of Justice, reports IPN.
According to the report, for several of the aspects analyzed, it is necessary to present the original recordings. In the case of some materials, three interruptions were identified during the recording, but the experts could not determine whether these are the result of an edit, the removal of images or sounds, technical issues, or the copying process.
The recordings featuring Dodon, Plahotniuc, and Iaralov, including the sequence where the former head of state is handed a bag presumed to contain money, were also determined to be copies. No traces of manipulation were detected in the examined frames, but experts found that subtitles depicting the dialogue between the three individuals were added at the bottom of the images. In another recording, two separate sequences were identified, divided by a one-second interruption. The cause of this interruption could not be determined without the original video.
The report does not establish that the recordings are false, but neither does it certify their authenticity in the absence of the original materials.
Following the conclusions, Igor Dodon mentioned that, in the absence of the original, experts cannot confirm the authenticity of the recording nor exclude possible manipulations. “In the examined material there are interruptions and elements of digital processing, including subtitles. These things raise serious questions about the veracity of the video. I’m not saying that any processing means falsification,” asserts Igor Dodon.
The former vice-president of the Democratic Party, Serghei Iaralov, was summoned in February to testify in the case generically called “The Black Bag”, in which the ex-president Igor Dodon is accused. Iaralov did not appear in court, and prosecutors mentioned a few days ago that he might be in the USA and requested information from the Embassy. At the same time, Vlad Plahotniuc was forcibly brought to the Supreme Court of Justice during the same period to testify in this case. He refused to make statements as a witness for the prosecution, invoking his status as an accused in other criminal cases.
In the “Black Bag” case, Igor Dodon is accused of treason, passive corruption, illicit enrichment, and accepting party financing from an organized criminal group. Prosecutors claim that Dodon would have requested over a million dollars from Vlad Plahotniuc to promote the political interests of the PDM. If found guilty, the former president risks up to 20 years in prison.
