The judiciary is not fully reformed yet, and there are still compromised judges around. This is how PAS legislator Ana Calinici commented on the Supreme Court’s decision to release the former president Igor Dodon from house arrest. At the same time, the ex-Socialist MP Nicolae Pascaru claims that Dodon is being harassed by the judiciary on the orders of the current government.

On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a request by prosecutors to have Igor Dodon’s house arrest extended by another 60 days, releasing him under judicial supervision instead.

“The accusations (brought against Dodon) are quite serious and so this is a case of high public interest. High treason in any country of the world is considered something extraordinary (…) Now, we see Dodon’s defense, his lawyers are very vocal, they hold press conferences. Moldovan prosecutors should borrow their Romanian colleagues’ practice of communicating more, because an imbalance of opinion is created. What we now know for sure is that Dodon will no longer be confined to his home, but will have the opportunity to travel around the country and participate in political life”, said the political commentator Roman Mihăeș during a talk show on TV8.

His fellow panelist, the former Socialist MP Nicolae Pascaru, says the accusations against Igor Dodon are unfounded and is confident that in the absence of conclusive evidence, charges will be dropped soon.

“This is clearly a fabricated case. It is a national Moldovan sport for the new government to initiate cases against their predecessors and blame them for all the problems in the country. All these cheap shows are meant to distract public attention from the government’s inability to handle the present crises. There is a big difference between people’s living standards during Dodon’s presidency and the living standards today”, said Pascaru.

But government representatives seem to have a different explanation.

“Prosecutors requested the extension of ex-President Dodon’s house arrest, the Supreme Court replaced the house arrest with a new measure – judicial supervision with the prohibition to leave the country. The justice reform is in progress, the courts have not yet been all cleaned, there are still compromised judges around. Regardless, what matters is the finality of this case. It’s important that procedures are followed, that everything is procedurally correct. The evaluation of the candidates for the position of CSM and CSP member has just begun, later, the evaluation of the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice will follow”, said the PAS lawmaker Ana Calinici.

When the ruling was handed down on Friday, Igor Dodon described his release on bail as the “first victory”. Meanwhile, lead prosecutor Petru Iarmaliuc complained that Dodon’s release could compromise the prosecutorial probe through witness tampering.