Eduard Harunjen was invested as prosecutor general in a hurry. President Nicolae Timofti didn’t benefit from the time offered by law to examine the candidate and this causes suspicions in society and diminishes confidence in the possibility of reforming the prosecution service, said experts invited to the talk show “Interpol” on TV 7 channel, IPN reports.
Anticorruption expert Mariana Kalughin said the way in which the prosecutor general was invested leaves room for speculation. “There is always bewilderment when something is done in a hurry. The candidate should have been subject to checks, including by the Security and Intelligence Service. The hurry causes doubts. The image of the prosecution service was affected. It’s clear that Nicolae Timofti hurried to swear in Harunjen so as to hinder the President-elect from doing this himself. For me, the fact that Eduard Harunjen became prosecutor general is a problem. This post must be held by a person with more character,” she stated.
“The Head of State should have verified the press reports about Harunjen and his house that does not correspond to his salary. Under the law, the President has three weeks to verify all the information. Why does Timofti verify the information in the case of judges, but does not do this in the case of the prosecutor general? It’s true that Harunjen had the best performance in the interview test, but he should have been checked. The contest ended at 3pm and the presidential decree was signed the next day at 12 noon. The people do not have much confidence in the prosecution service. Owing to this hurry and to the fact that the investiture was held behind closed doors, civil society will not perceive Harunjen as a reliable person,” said Vlad Gribincea, director of the Legal Resources Center.
Ex-prosecutor of Chisinau municipality Ion Diacov explained that the hurry in investing Harunjen was due to the fact that the candidate was chosen long ago. “Harunjen was named acting prosecutor general so that he could convince whom he had to that he is suitable for heading the Prosecutor General’s Office. The recent illegal mass arrests can be explained by this. Those arrested are later released one by one. The contest didn’t involve honest prosecutors with a good reputation as they knew what the result will be,” stated Diacov.
Mircea Rosioru, chairman of the Superior Council of Prosecutors, said over the phone that the Head of State didn’t have what to check as all the verifications were performed during the contest and the results were included in the file transmitted to Nicolae Timofti. “There were a number of stages of the contest that were broadcast live. The SIS also presented its appraisals and the candidates were tested by the polygraph. It is not the Prosecutor’s Office that should examine or start criminal cases over unjust enrichment, for example. There are other institutions empowered to do this,” he stated.
