The Chisinau Appeals Court rejected the lawyers’ appeal against the decision to extend the warrant for the arrest of the leader of the PLDM Vlad Filat. According to Filat’s lawyer Igor Popa, there is no evidence justifying the suspicions and there are no new elements showing that Vlad Filat committed the offenses of which he is accused, IPN reports.

“The preventive arrest is an exceptional measure. Freedom is the main rule. For the accused to be held under arrest, there should be sufficient evidence. I explained to the judges that the maintaining of this measure is not justified,” stated Ion Popa.

According to the lawyer, Vlad Filat will continue to be held at Penitentiary No. 13. “This prison should have been closed as the detention conditions there are inacceptable. We also submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office because three persons were held in a room that is ten square meters in area. We will complain to the ECHR and ask that Filat should be reinstated. We will also seek damages,” said Ion Popa.

Prosecutor Adriana Betisor banned the former Premier from discussing with the media so as not to affect the investigation. She said that when the application to extend the arrest warrant was examined, there were questioned other state officials. “We thus established that the accused exerted influence on persons holding public posts when additional shares were issued at Banca de Economii. These persons were questioned as witnesses,” said the prosecutor.

The decision to extend the warrant for the arrest of Vlad Filat was passed by the Buiucani Court on November 11. The former Premier was arrested in October on charges of passive corruption and influence peddling.