Almost 80 days have passed since the change of governance. During this time, several resonant criminal cases, opened under the Democratic Party have taken an unexpected turn. After the Democrats announced their withdrawal into opposition, the magistrates of several national courts have suddenly changed their assumptions and made unexpected decisions on some cases, and more detainees have been released. 

ZdG conducted a review of cases filed during Democratic governance, which were solved after the new government came to power.

June 12 – Criminal file of activist who doused a former Minister with milk 

On September 30, 2016, activist Andrei Donica poured a bucket of milk over former Finance Minister Octavian Armaşu, the current Governor of the National Bank. The activist blamed the minister for the Government placing the debt generated by the “theft of the billion” on the shoulders of citizens. Two years after this incident, in September 2018, Andrei Donică was given a suspended sentenced of one year in prison. 

Four days after the new Government’s inauguration and the creation of a parliamentary majority coalition made up of the Socialist Party (PSRM) and ACUM Bloc, the Chișinău Court of Appeal decided that Donică’s action was, in fact, a contravention of the law. However, the contravention process was stopped because the limitation period had expired.

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June 16- Renato Usatîi returns to Moldova

The leader of Partidul Nostru (Our Party), Renato Usatîi, has been wanted by Moldovan authorities  since October 2016. He was accused of having dispossessed the Russian banker, German Gorbuntsov, of the majority share in Universalbank in Chișinău, which was worth over 5,733 euros (113.5 million lei). Usatîi is also suspected of complicity in an assassination attempt on Gorbuntsov in March 2012. After his absence from the country for almost two years, on June 15, after the change of governance, Usatîi announced that his return home is “obvious, because that disorder that was in the country before it’s not possible anymore.” 

On June 16, as soon as he passed Sculeni customs, Usatîi was detained and escorted to the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Causes (PCCOCS). After a few hours of hearings, the prosecutors released Usatîi. Prosecutors gave up the application of an arrest warrant on his behalf, because “the grounds on which the arrest warrant was applied have expired.” However, he is obliged to come voluntarily whenever he is summoned by prosecutors.

June 19- a former deputy sentenced for high treason sent for retrial

After spending more than two years in prison, on July 19, 2019, the Chișinău Court of Appeal sent the case of the ex-deputy Iurie Bolboceanu for retrial. The first court sentenced him to 14 years in prison for high treason. The court found that the defendant’s “rights guaranteed by both the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the ECHR and the Code of Criminal Procedure have essentially been violated.” 

In the reasoned decision of the Court of Appeal it is stated that the respective violations “equate to a judicial error, which will be corrected by breaking the sentence of the first court with the order to re-judge the case.” The same day, Bolboceanu was released from custody. 

June 27- Andrei Tranga released from custody

Andrei Tranga, co-owner of the restaurant chain Andy’s Pizza and La Plăcinte was arrested by prosecutors from the office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), on April 26, 2019. Prosecutors accused Tranga of being involved in a scheme for taking over the business of Viorel Varzari; the Molinart Grup company specifically. The next day, the judges issued an arrest warrant for 30 days for Tranga, which was subsequently extended. 

On June 20, after almost two months of detention the judges transferred Tranga to house arrest. HE was later released from custody on June 27. Tranga accused the PCCOCS, the Security and Intelligence Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General of abuse of power, interference in the execution of justice and deliberately exposing him to criminal liability. The businessman stated that his business was subjected to a forced takeover attempt by persons affiliated with the Democratic Party, through a fabricated case.

July 8- Domnica Manole was cleared after prosecutors gave up on the accusations  

On July 8, 2019, the magistrates of the Chișinău Court decided that the former judge Domnica Manole did not violate criminal law in April 2016, when she overturned the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on the refusal to organize a national consultative referendum, initiated by the Dignity and Truth Platform Party (DA).

The acquittal judgement was facilitated by a request from the prosecutor of the case, who renounced the criminal charges. According to the prosecutor, the statements of a defense witness and the conclusions of some experts are the basis on which the prosecution has refrained from pursuing criminal charges against the ex-magistrate.

• The Dismissal of the Manole Case

July 9- the activist who slapped deputy Sergiu Sîrbu, released 

On March 21, 2019, shortly after the sitting of the tenth legislature in Parliament, an exchange took place between Deputy Sergiu Sîrbu and civic activist Pavel Grigorciuc outside of a cafe. During the discussion, Grigorciuc slapped Sîrbu. While Grigorciuc claims he slapped Sîrbu (his former colleague from the Communist Party) in the face, Sîrbu said he was diagnosed with a concussion because Grigorciuc hit him on the side of his head with his fist or another object.

Pavel Grigorciuc was detained that same day and the Buiucani Prosecutor’s Office opened a hooliganism case against him. The following day, Grigorciuc was charged, with his actions being classified as hooliganism. On July 9, the Court decided on the provisional release of Grigorciuc under judicial control, a measure which expired on August 8. The decision came after three months of detention in a penitentiary and under house arrest, as a result of several requests from  lawyers regarding the revocation of the home detention and preventive detention. 

August 20- former Poșta Moldovei employee, who disclosed information about trafficking of anabolic substances, acquitted by Chișinău Court of Appeal

In July 2016, Sergiu Cebotari, a former employee of the State Enterprise Poșta Moldovei was sentenced by the first court to eight years of imprisonment in a criminal case for embezzlement of foreign assets and the use of forced labor. Cebotari was detained after the police had registered 16 complaints from several people, who said that he forced them to perform agricultural work without payment.

The magistrates of the Chișinău Court of Appeal acquitted Cebotari because the defendants’ deeds did not match elements of the crime.

Earlier, Sergiu Cebotari told the press that dozens of bags of anabolic substances – a prohibited medical substance otherwise known as steroids, which is used by athletes to increase muscle mass and enhance performance – were sent weekly by post.

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Ștefan Gligor, lawyer, program director, Center of Policies and Reforms (CPR MOLDOVA) 

“It is obvious that many of these lawsuits have been filed to eliminate some people, or to exert pressure to close the mouths of these people, or to pressure them towards more loyal behavior. 
Criminal Prosecution became a common practice used to get rid of the opponents of Plahotniuc’s regime. In this situation it is important to understand that those prosecutors and judges who issued conviction sentences must be recertified. 
The best case scenario is that the judges were politically influenced. However, they could also have been under the influence of organized criminal groups that by controlling the Superior Council of Magistrates and the presidents of the courts exerted pressure on people uncomfortable with the regime.
When the power changed, they understood the danger in condemning innocent people. [But] they no longer have to do this since Plahotniuc and his associates are no longer in power.”

Diana Gațcan