The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) announces that on 26 January it submitted a request to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) to replace the preventive measure against former President Igor Dodon, accused of committing the crime of passive bribery, organizing and accepting political party financing from a “criminal organization”.

Prosecutors are asking for the measure of an order not to leave the country to be replaced by house arrest, given that, according to the PA, the doctor who signed the document confirming the need for Igor Dodon to travel abroad stated that “he did not know the patient in question and that he had stamped the referral at the request of a colleague”.

On 19 January 2023, Igor Dodon’s defence counsel submitted a request to the court asking for permission to leave the Republic of Moldova between 28 January 2023 and 5 February 2023 to provide post Covid-19 rehabilitation treatment for his son in Romania, attaching a number of documents confirming the need to travel abroad. According to the PA, Igor Dodon’s lawyers justified the need for the permission to leave by submitting the Extract-Trial No. 0163158 of 18 January 2023.

“At the court hearing the prosecutors requested to hear the doctor but the court rejected that request. On 25 January 2023 the doctor whose name and surname was indicated in the medical document stated that the patient mentioned was unknown to him and that he had affixed the stamp to the Referral-Extras at the request of a colleague.

According to the doctor, the request came from his colleague who always examines the Dodon family and is in close relations with them, being the wife of a councillor of the Chisinau Municipal Council, member of the faction of the party to which the accused belonged,” the PA reported.

At the same time, according to anti-corruption prosecutors, the doctor mentioned that the procedures indicated in the Referral-Extras are not necessary to be performed abroad, as they are available in Moldova, and in the national clinical protocol on the treatment of Covid-19 infection (medium severity form), there are no such recommendations.

“In these circumstances, on January 26, 2023, prosecutors carried out seizures of documents and computer devices, so all actions will be examined in the light of committing the crime of making, possession, sale or use of official documents granting rights, in this regard a criminal case will be initiated,” the PA also announced.

On 6 January 2023, the judges of the CSJ accepted the prosecutor’s request to extend the term of the preventive measure – an order not to leave the country for another 60 days, regarding Igor Dodon.

Igor Dodon was released from house arrest by a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) on 18 November. The former head of state was then placed under judicial control for 60 days and banned from leaving the country.

In the so-called “kuliok” case, the former president of Moldova is accused of having demanded almost one million dollars from Vladimir Plahotniuc and Sergei Yaralov in order to negotiate with the Russian Federation, and in the “Energocom” case, the former president is accused of exceeding his official duties.

Igor Dodon was detained on 24 May after anti-corruption prosecutors carried out ten raids for more than ten hours at several locations owned by Dodon and his relatives.

Dodon is the first head of state to be tried for a crime committed while in office. For this reason, the case was referred directly to the CSJ, which by law is competent to try criminal cases involving offences committed by a head of state at first instance.

The criminal prosecution in the case generically called “kuliok” was resumed on 18 May 2022, one day after the Chisinau CA overturned the entire decision of the Chisinau Court, Ciocana sector, on maintaining the order of non-prosecution against the former President of Moldova, issued earlier. The case is based on a video footage of a meeting between Igor Dodon, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Serghei Iaralov in June 2019, in which the PDM leader is seen giving Dodon a black bag in which it was speculated there was money. In that recording, Igor Dodon tells Plahotniuc not to “walk around with his asses” and to pass the bag to Cornel (supposedly Corneliu Furculita, editor’s note), because he was going to pay certain salaries. Plahotniuc then told Iaralov to give the money to Costea (supposedly Constantin Botnari, editor’s note) to pass on to Cornel.

The video footage, published by former MP Iurie Renita, is a continuation of the video recording of the meeting of the three in June 2019, when Dodon said he receives monthly money from the Russian Federation to finance the PSRM. Later, Dodon publicly stated that he had played a role in those discussions, with the aim of ousting Plahotniuc from government.

Igor Dodon was suspected of illicit enrichment, passive bribery, accepting the financing of the political party by a criminal organisation and treason against the Motherland.