The lawyer for the carriers “Ednateric Trans” and “Transeric Tur” Alexandru Bot said attempts are being made to block the operators of the two companies and intimidate their employees. According to him, about 16 searches were carried out at the two companies on August 12, with deviations from procedures. Two buses that belong to a partner company from the Czech Republic were stopped. Searches were carried out at the office of the companies and at the homes of employees.

In a news conference at IPN, lawyer Alexandru Bot said that a year ago he informed that state bodies aimed to block the economic activity of the two companies. “At a distance of one year, nothing has changed. Moreover, judging by yesterday’s experience, things have worsened. Respectively, any attempt to change the situation, at least in the justice sector, failed fully I think,” he stated.

In the morning of August 12, two buses that belong to a partner company based in the Czech Republic were illegally stopped by persons in balaclavas, near Stăuceni. The passengers were told to get out and searches were carried out. The drivers and conductors had their mobile phones confiscated.

“For the first time in our national practice, I learned that witnesses can be questioned on the roadway.  I want to note that all the passengers who were told to get out were obliged to provide explanations on the street for the reason that “they will not go to the Center for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings over each passenger apart”,” stated Alexandru Bot.

The fact that one of the buses was held for over three hours is considered illegal. The searches were carried out without being authorized by the judge of inquiry, as the Code of Penal Procedure provides.

Searches were also conducted at the office of “Transeric Tur”, while the managers were on annual leave outside the country. The lawyer believes this is not accidental, especially because he was allowed to contact his clients only in the presence of persons in balaclavas.

“The final goal wasn’t the investigation, but the stopping of the company’s activity, including its accounting activity as they have not annual accounting, but monthly accounting. The seizure of those documents generates risks of penalties over non-fulfillment of the obligations to the state,” noted Alexandru Bot.

According to him, similar actions in parallel with the searches were carried out at homes of employees with the aim of intimidating them. The doors of some of the apartments were forced, while in other apartments the searches were conducted in the presence of children. If the abusive actions do not stop, the managers reserve the right to go to the Europeans Court of Human Rights.