Moldovan citizens are angry with Vlad Plahotniuc, the former leader of the previous ruling coalition. Under his leadership, Moldova was the poorest state in Europe and became even poorer. In addition to the stolen and undisclosed billions, in these years, Moldova has registered a dramatic backsliding on democracy, human rights, and freedom of the press. Migration rates have increased too. State capture became unquestionable– with vertical control over justice, the Government and law enforcement bodies.

Although several weeks have passed since Vlad Plahotniuc suddenly left Moldova, there is little expectation that a fair and thorough trial against him will take place soon. Both the prosecution and judicial bodies, as well as other public institutions, are full of people who were part of his system; who accepted and tolerated him, fulfilled his orders, and committed abuses in his interests. You cannot get rid of them all, because removing these people from the system should be done through a fair process.

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Who will take care of it? How many light years are needed to analyze and cleanse the institutions, including the judicial ones? When will the system be ready to judge these people who committed so many violations?

Recently, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of Vlad Plahotniuc, the former Democratic party leader from Chisinau, for currency manipulations and money laundering. This included transfers of significant amounts (around € 500 million) from the Russian Federation to foreign accounts. 

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Personally, I have no doubts that Vlad Plahotniuc may have been involved in such operations and might be guilty of these accusations. I am however concerned about the captured Russian state and its compromised justice system. I do not have a comprehensive analysis of the state of justice in Russia right now, but the courts that instantly judge thousands of people detained in peaceful protests, condemning them just for walking on the street, cannot judge a money-launderer properly.

And why now, do Russian investigators take such great interest in Plahotniuc’ s crimes, which have occurred many years ago? Why did the judges confirm his guilt so speedily and why did they issue an immediate arrest warrant for him? Secondly, I am really worried about a possible connection between the current arrest warrant on Vlad Plahotniuc and the friendship of quasi-oligarch Igor Dodon with the Russian authorities.

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Vlad Plahotniuc’ s conviction should not be underestimated, these pretend investigations and arrests on paper hurt the victims waiting for justice even more. The court that will investigate and convict Plahotniuc must have a clean image and flawless integrity. Such an act alone would have a double healing effect on society: restoring confidence that evil is truly punishable and restoring trust in justice in general.

At the moment, neither Russia nor Moldova can carry out a credible, transparent and comprehensive act of justice. My expectation comes from the international community, because E.U. member states and the U.S. have sound judicial systems.

Why should the foreign judicial systems be interested in Moldova and Plahotniuc? For many good reasons. Plahotniuc holds real estate assets in Switzerland, businesses and bank accounts in the U.K., the Netherlands, Romania. Plahotniuc is the source of money laundered through offshore accounts, including in several U.S. jurisdictions.

These enormous sums were not made by the 50-year-old Moldovan (who possesses multiple citizenships and passports) through transparent work. This money, securely held in European banks, is largely owned by the citizens of the poorest state in Europe. The whole European community donates to help impoverished Moldova rise from this plight. Wouldn’t it be more just for Europeans and Americans to commit an act of justice and return the impoverished state its own money? Yes, it would be more difficult, but also more judicious, and more democratic.

Alina RADU, alina.radu@zdg.md