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Lack of financing in high-profile cases erodes society’s confidence in justice, opinions


https://www.ipn.md/index.php/en/lack-of-financing-in-high-profile-cases-erodes-societys-7978_1090101.html

Representatives of the government call on the Prosecutor’s Office to ensure correctness and maximum transparency in the case of Igor Dodon and say that until definitive conviction, the ex-President enjoys the presumption of innocence. For their party, jurists said treason is the most serious accusation against Igor Dodon. If it’s proven that the ex-President caused damage to Moldova’s interests in favor of another country, he will have to stay in jail, IPN reports.

Ex-President Igor Dodon is accused of treason, unjust enrichment, acceptance of financing for the party from a criminal organization and passive corruption. Representatives of the government said they expect this case will have an end result.

“As most of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, I expect the Prosecutor’s Office will do its job, will remit the case to court and the court will decide. For now, there is the presumption of innocence. About five years ago, they said that Vladimir Putin offered Igor Dodon the nationality of the Russian Federation by a secret decree. I would like Igor Dodon to be subject to a polygraph test so that we have a response to this question,” PAS MP Oazu Nantoi stated in the program “Expertise Hour” on JurnalTV channel.

According to jurists, treason is the most serious accusation made against the former President. This carries a penalty of 12 to 20 years in jail.

“Treason is not a banal accusation. Not all the actions we don’t like fall under this article of the Penal Code. In our country, all the former government officials are traitors and corrupt people. Until we do not stop such practices, we will not make progress. Any person who committed a wrongdoing should be punished and it is very said that many manage to avoid criminal liability.  This is harmful to the climate in society. Society loses confidence in the justice sector. All the corrupt persons become more courageous when they see someone getting rid of punishment as they know they will also escape,” said jurist Nicolae Eșanu.

“It is very easy to accuse someone of unjust enrichment. I see that this article is applied everywhere, but I didn’t see clear convictions. This is for the delight of the public. But treason is the most serious accusation. Igor Dodon served as government official, minister, then MP and President. As far as we understand from the accusations, Igor Dodon revealed information to a foreign state, the Russian Federation. There should be documents showing what secrets exactly he disclosed,” said AUR Romania vice president Valeriu Munteanu.

Political commentator Anatol Țăranu said ex-President Dodon’s statements about the federalization of the Republic of Moldova can be described as contrary to the national interests.

“Treason means actions that caused enormous damage to the Republic of Moldova. As a state official, he used office to harm the Republic of Moldova’s interests, to the benefit of another state. From political viewpoint, we have video images that shocked the whole society. We realize that the Prosecutor’s Office has recordings that weren’t made public. In images, Igor Dodon says that the Republic of Moldova should be federalized, but he didn’t use the word ‘federalization’,” noted Anatol Țăranu.

On May 26, Igor Dodon was placed under house arrest for a period of 30 days. Prosecutors appealed the court decision to the Chisinau Appeals Court and asked to replace house arrest with remand detention.