Alexandru Pînzari was released from detention and put under house arrest for the next 30 days instead, after Ciocana District Court rejected the prosecutors’ request to extend his preventive arrest, IPN reports.
Pînzari – former head of the General Police Inspectorate, former Minister of Defense, and member of the Democratic Party – is being prosecuted in a case that involves charges of “abuse of office”, “embezzlement of state property”, “illegal crossing of the state border”, “disclosure of state secrets” and “forgery of public documents”.
The Special Cases Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release it would appeal the decision to release the former official.
Prosecutors note in particular that Pînzari failed to appear before the court on one occasion and say the Ciocana Court’s argument that the suspect is cooperating with the investigation “does not hold up, as shown by prosecution materials”.
Also, prosecutors complain that the Court ignored evidence which “shows that the suspect is able to influence witnesses”.
The case concerns the operation of the now disbanded Directorate 5 of the Moldovan Police, notoriously known for handling politically motivated cases during the Plahotniuc regime.
