Socialist Igor Dodon remains under judicial control in the “kuliok” case

Igor Dodon’s pre-trial release undear judicial supervision, with a ban on leaving Moldova, has been extended by the court for another 60 days.

“The aim is to delay the examination of the criminal case”. This is how anti-corruption prosecutor Vitalie Codreanu commented on the requests of former socialist president Igor Dodon’s lawyers to lift the exception of unconstitutionality regarding the procedure of temporary transfer of judges from lower courts to the SCJ.

The criminal case in the “kuliok” case, in which the former head of state is accused of committing the crime of passive bribery and organising and accepting political party financing from a “criminal organisation”, is to be examined on the merits by judges Ghenadie Eremciuc, Viorica Puica and Ion Malanciuc.

At the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) hearing on Thursday 18 May, the judges rejected the requests of the former head of state’s lawyers to lift the exception of unconstitutionality concerning the procedure for the temporary transfer of judges from lower courts to the SCJ.

At the same time, a request for the recusal of the panel was rejected.

Thus, the panel composed of Aliona Donos, Ion Guzun and Sergiu Daguța rejected the requests of Igor Dodon’s lawyers to recuse judges Ghenadie Eremciuc, Viorica Puica and Ion Malanciuc, transferred to the SCJ for a period of 6 months, and to lift the exception of unconstitutionality concerning the procedure of temporary transfer of judges from lower courts to the SCJ.

Later, the lawyers repeatedly asked the panel of judges temporarily transferred by the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) from lower courts to the SCJ to lift the exception of unconstitutionality and refer the case to the Constitutional Court.

The court decided to attach the lawyers’ reference and to postpone the examination until the other panel’s refusal had been fully drafted.

At the hearing on Wednesday, 17 May, the judges’ statements of abstention from examining the case were admitted and the hearing was postponed until Thursday, 18 May, at 11:00, when the court was due to examine the prosecutors’ request for extension of judicial control over former President Igor Dodon.

Two of the magistrates temporarily transferred to the SCJ from 10 May, who were due to examine the “kuliok” case, filed a request to abstain from the first sitting of the new full court. At the same time, almost a year after he was detained by law enforcement officers, the state prosecutor has requested that the application for the extension of the former head of state’s judicial control, which expires on 19 May, be examined.

The sitting on Wednesday, 17 May was to take place after a break of almost two months, with a new panel of judges, consisting of judges transferred from the Chisinau Court of Appeal Boris Talpă and Serghei Daguta, and CSJ magistrate Ion Guzun.

The three magistrates filed requests to abstain from examining the case because they had previously examined applications for the application of a preventive measure against Igor Dodon.

Former President Igor Dodon said that the panel hearing his case had “included judges transferred from lower courts, chosen through a non-transparent and unclear procedure”, and that his lawyers would raise in the trial the objection of unconstitutionality regarding the procedure of temporary transfer of judges from lower courts to the Supreme Court of Justice.

The changes in the panel examining the “kuliok” case came in the context of several resignations from the SCJ, including judges Ghenadie Plămădeală and Vladimir Timofti who were assigned to the case. The third judge, Anatolie Turcan, is on leave.

On 27 February, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) reported that, after 13 court sessions, anti-corruption prosecutors had begun presenting evidence in support of the charges against former President Igor Dodon in the case in which he is suspected of passive bribery, organisation and acceptance of political party funding from a “criminal organisation”.

The former president is under judicial control. On 18 November 2022, Igor Dodon was released from house arrest and placed under judicial control, with a ban on leaving the country.

Earlier in February, the PA announced that prosecutors had ordered the recognition and hearing as suspects of former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, his wife Galina Dodon, and the doctor who made the “false medical document” on the basis of which the SCJ allowed the former head of state and his wife to leave the country.

The first court hearing in the case of former head of state Igor Dodon, which is investigating the episode filmed in June 2019, when he received a black bag from Vladimir Plahotniuc, took place on Monday, October 17, at the Supreme Court of Justice. Dodon is defended by three lawyers, and the prosecution is being handled by two prosecutors.

On October 6, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced the indictment of the criminal case against former Moldovan President Igor Dodon in the commission of the crime of passive bribery and organization and acceptance of political party financing from a criminal organization, committed during his tenure as President of Moldova in June 2019.

The case against Igor Dodon has been sent to the SCJ for examination on the merits. According to Article 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the SCJ is competent to judge in first instance criminal cases concerning crimes committed by the President of the Republic of Moldova, the Prosecutor’s Office said.

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.

The criminal prosecution in the case known generically as “kuliok” was resumed on 18 May 2022, one day after the Chisinau CA overturned in full the decision of the Chisinau Ciocana district court to uphold 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 Forks, 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 Fatherland.