President Maia Sandu came with a reaction after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of the former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo and obliged the state to pay non-pecuniary damages to him. Maia Sandu said the ECHR judgment does not refer to decisions taken by her as the President and the country would have lost more if Stoianoglo had kept the post, IPN reports.
Ex-prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo won the case in one of the two applications he submitted to the ECHR. The Court held that there had been a violation of the right to a fair trial, namely of the right to challenge the Superior Council of Prosecutors’ decision of October 5, 2021 as a result of which he was suspended from post. The ECHR obliged the Republic of Moldova to pay €3,600 in respect of non-pecuniary damages to the former prosecutor general.
“This judgment referred to a concrete law that was later amended and it bears no relation to the decisions I took. I don’t think it is the case to comment on an ECHR judgment, but I consider that the country would have lost more if the post of prosecutor general had been kept by a person who consulted Platon about how to fight corruption. The law was modified and now meets the international standards,” President Sandu stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei channel.
The official noted that an upright professional needs to be identified for the post of prosecutor general. On September 26, President Sandu signed a decree to dismiss Alexandr Stoianoglo from the post.
“We now need a courageous, honest and professional prosecutor. The expectations are big. The inheritance is complex and the problems in the systems are very big. We need someone very courageous and competent who wants to take responsibility for very hard work,” said Maia Sandu.
On October 23, the Superior Council of Prosecutors announced a contest to fill the post of prosecutor general. The deadline for applications is November 22.
