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Moldovan judiciary treats parties differently, say experts


https://www.ipn.md/index.php/en/moldovan-judiciary-treats-parties-differently-say-experts-7978_1017349.html

The Moldovan judiciary has treated differently the parties engaged in the electoral race, as one non-parliamentary party has been removed from the ballot paper for violations that have been overlooked in the case of two governing parties. Opinions in this regard were exchanged by the guests of last night's “Politica” talk-show on TV 7, IPN reports.

Stanislav Pavlovschi, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, says that the violations committed during the parliamentary elections can be judged at the ECHR. “This year's ballot is a crass manifestation of political corruption. The use of unreported funds, without indicating their source, leads to the conclusion that this money was obtained illegally through corruption or embezzlement. The solution is social activism. People have to understand that they cannot remain indifferent. Any Moldovan citizen could notify the ECHR about these violations after the Constitutional Court validated the elections”, said Pavlovschi.

IDIS “Viitorul” expert Corneliu Ciurea noted that this wasn't the first time when such violations were committed. “I recall that in 2010 a party reported to the Central Electoral Commission that it had spent one million lei during the campaign, when in fact it had spent ten million. This year, only the “Patria” Party was removed from the elections, although it was proven that other electoral runners also committed financial violations that the law punishes with removal from the elections. It's obvious that our justice is selective”, said Ciurea.

Political analyst Igor Botan also thinks that different parties have been treated differently. “On the background of the removal of “Patria”, the responsible bodies had to inspect the other electoral candidates for financial violations as well. There's no doubt that this was a command and that our justice is selective”, said Botan.

“Promo-LEX” expert Pavel Postica remarked that although weak, there are some reactions to the violations detected by his organization. “Some police officers called us and requested more information to document some cases. It means our reports are read by the authorities and this is already a step forward”, concluded Postica.

The NGO “Promo-LEX” presented on Thursday, December 18, a report showing that the parties that took part in the parliamentary elections on November 30 had spent more money than declared in their financial reports. The report notes that PDM and PLDM went beyond the accepted limit for unreported expenses, which is punishable by removal from elections. According to the report's estimations, the electoral runners didn't declare a combined 14.9 million lei.