The Central Court of Appeal today rejected the appeal filed by the lawyers of the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc, who contested the preventive measure applied in the case related to the acquisition of passport blanks. Therefore, according to the court’s decision, the arrest warrant remains in effect, reports IPN.
“The appeal filed by the accused Vlad Plahotniuc is dismissed as unfounded. The decision of the Chisinau Court, Ciocana headquarters, from September 9, 2022, is upheld”, is stated in the decision of the Court of Appeal.
The arrest warrant for Vlad Plahotniuc was issued in 2022 and was enforced on September 25, 2025, after he was extradited from Greece and brought to the Republic of Moldova.
The defense of the former politician maintains that the measure is unjustified. Lawyer Lucian Rogac stated that the prosecutors “have not demonstrated the existence of all the risks” necessary to justify pretrial detention. “That’s exactly why we challenged the warrants at the right time,” the defender specified.
Currently, Vlad Plahotniuc is in preventive detention at Penitentiary No. 13 in Chisinau, in a solitary cell.
Four arrest warrants have been issued in his name in different cases: “Bank Fraud”, “Metalferos”, “Passport Blanks”, and “The Black Bag”.
Last week, the Court of Appeal rejected two more appeals filed by Vlad Plahotniuc’s lawyers. The fourth one is set to be examined.
Vlad Plahotniuc was detained at the airport in Athens, Greece, on July 22, and extradited to Moldova on September 25. He arrived at Chisinau International Airport, and was subsequently transported to Penitentiary No. 13, where prosecutors informed him of the charges in four criminal cases currently under investigation.
