Connect with us

Justice

Moldova Agriculture Minister under home arrest for 30 days, Prime-Minister asks President for dismissal

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On March 17th, the Buiucani Court of Chișinău issued a arrest warrant of 30 days for Moldova’s Agriculture Minister Eduard Grama. The Minister, accused of passive corruption in a case of land appropriation, will stay under arrest at home for at least 30 days.

His lawyers believe the decision of the court is unfounded and lacks proof.

On the same day, Prime-Minister Pavel Filip sent a letter to President Igor Dodon demanding to dismiss Grama from the position of Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, at the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office. A press-release of the Government mentions that Grama himself asked for his resignation on March 16th.

Screen: rise.md Source: mold-street.com

Investigators found proof of Grama’s involvement in a case of corruption regarding the appropriation of 9,9 hectares of a portion of a land. Additional searches at Minister’s office and home were conducted before Grama himself was arrested by the anti-corruption officers.

The searches are part of the case on the attempts to appropriate 30 hectares of land from Stăuceni suburb of Chișinău, land belonging to the Wine-making and Wine-culture College.

According to an investigation conducted by RISE Moldova, the 4,5 million euros land was appropriated by the businessman Tudor Ungureanu by bribing at least two officials from the Agriculture Ministry. In the context of the investigation, Minister Grama declared that he did not know anything about the business, delegating the responsibility to a former Vice-Minister, but still mentioning that he was offered to participate as well.

In November 2016, 12 persons, including officials, businessmen and lawyers, were arrested in regard to the appropriation of the 30 hectares. They were accused of fraud, passive and active corruption, influence traffic and making false documents.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Justice

Changing the judiciary or replacing the Prosecutor General – what starts a successful judicial reform?

Published

on

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The newly elected government decided to take action regarding one of its main priorities, which was previously announced – the judicial reform. Namely, an amendment to the existing Law on the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) was voted through the first reading on August 13. The bill provides for introduction of a mechanism for evaluating the performance of the Prosecutor General, as well as his dismissal following a proposal submitted by the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) in case he fails in his duties.

The performance of the Prosecutor General would be evaluated once per year by a 5 members commission formed by the SCP. One member would be proposed by the President of the Republic of Moldova, the second by the Ministry of Justice, the third by the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), the forth by the Superior Council of Prosecutors and the last one by the Prosecutor General (PG). In case at least 3 members of the SCP, the Performance Evaluation Commission or the President of the Republic of Moldova take the initiative, disciplinary proceedings may be brought against the Prosecutor General. If a criminal investigation is initiated, an interim PG is appointed by the SCP.

The authors of the bill (MPs of the Party of Action and Solidarity) claimed that the proposed changes would not affect the independence and autonomy of the OPG and that of the Prosecutor General, as the Superior Council of Prosecutors has the decisive role in making the decision. “The introduction of regulations on the evaluation of the Prosecutor General’s performance, as well as regulations on the application of disciplinary liability to the Prosecutor General comes to ensure accountability of the institution, and establishes a balance of power and control between the Prosecutor General and the Superior Council of Prosecutors,” the authors of the bill said.

During the same plenary session, MPs supported through the first reading the amendment to the normative acts providing for the election and appointment of members in the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors. The candidates of both councils are required to hold office for at least 3 years and not to be penalised in the last 3 years. Six members of the SCM would be elected by the General Assembly of Judges, next to three ex officio members and three law professors appointed by Parliament.

At the same time, the proposed amendments seek to reduce the number of the SCP members from 15 to 12, by excluding the Prosecutor General, the Chief Prosecutor of the ATU (Autonomous Territorial Unit) Gagauzia Prosecutor’s Office and the President of the Lawyers Union.

The Parliamentary Committee in charge of Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities invited all interested parties to public consultations, on 18 August, regarding the previously mentioned bills, after civil society organizations have made a public request to organize “genuine and inclusive public consultations, in strict compliance with the legislation on transparency in decision-making.”

A smart move or a hasty reform?

The modifications to the Law on the Office of the Prosecutor General approved in Parliament were criticised by some experts, despite the fact that Sergiu Litvinenco, the main promoter and the one who initiated the bill, argued that “the changes contain sufficient guarantees to ensure correct procedures both in the case of performance evaluation and in the case of disciplinary procedure.”

The president of the Center for Legal Resources of Moldova, Vladislav Gribincea, declared that amending the Law on the Office of the Prosecutor General every time the government does not like the prosecutor general “creates dangerous circumstances and puts the Prosecutor General at the mercy of politicians.”

” No matter how well-intentioned politicians may be, a politically dependent prosecutor could be more dangerous than one with modest performance.”

The expert also said  that the modifications make no sense, as long as the dismissal of the Prosecutor General can be initiated only by the Superior Council of Prosecutors – a representative and self-administered body of prosecutors. “The SCP has not made proposals for dismissal, not even for disciplinary sanctions on much more critical situations committed by prosecutors. I do not see how this mechanism will lead to the de facto dismissal of Mr. Stoianoglo. I rather see this as a legislative pirouette, in order to further intensify the pressure on the General Prosecutor, causing him to leave.”

Former President of the Constitutional Court, Alexandru Tanase, stated that “although it contains high standards in the organization of the Office of the Prosecutor General, changing the rules of the game without changing people, does not generate any results.”

“The Venice Commission needs to be consulted, and the EU needs to make sure that the government does not make mistakes with this hasty reform,” claimed the expert Dionis Cenusa.

The OPG response was transcendent, still superficial: “The level of understanding by the current government of the principles of the rule of law is unexpectedly weak and, at the moment, we do not see the point of commenting on anything. The OPG response to any attack on its institutional and procedural independence will be proportionate to the seriousness of such attacks.” Regarding that, Vladislav Gribincea commented that there could not have been “a more inappropriate reaction of the OPG. The only tool of the institution is to file criminal cases against politicians. I think that is the last thing the Office of the Prosecutor General needs now.”

According to WatchDog expert Valeriu Pasa, the new law proposes to remove the SCP from the control of prosecutor, but that does not mean handing it over to politicians. “Civil society, academic environment, the ombudsman will participate in the process. Still, the largest number of members (5 out of 12) will be prosecutors. No one would have full control, as it is now. That would mean a much more balanced system,” he explained.

“Consolidating the system formed and led by the puppets of Plahotniuc and Platon is stupid. For the Party of Action and Solidarity that would be a political suicide. Is there a risk of political subordination of decisions taken by prosecutors and judges? Of course! And that must be the red line. The only safeguard against these abuses is the self-control of the new government and the strict monitoring of civil society and external partners, but  also of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition. If Plahotniuc’s control over judiciary gets replaced by the PAS’s control – everything has been in vain.”

The expert believes that the current Prosecutor General, Alexandru Stoianoglo, must resign because he has been elected through a vicious procedure intentionally organised by socialists. Another important reason is his inactivity concerning important investigations, the lack of progress when it comes to sanctioning or holding people accountable for major abuses, as it is the case of Veaceslav Platon or Ilan Shor, who left the country without any impediments. This was one of the arguments of the current government as well, in addition to the intention to bring the law into line with the Constitution in order to establish a mechanism for evaluating the activity of the Prosecutor General.

What changes will the current amendments undergo through the second reading, and whether the PG resigns or is dismissed – those are the next big questions.

Photo: parlament.md

Continue Reading

Important

The European Commission Report: Moldova continues to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks but there is still room for improvement

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The 4th Report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism from the European Commission (EC) to the European Parliament and the Council was recently published. Given that one of the Commission’s main responsibilities is to ensure appropriate monitoring of the visa free regime, the European institution reports annually on the fulfilment of the visa exemption requirements by the countries that have successfully completed a visa liberalisation dialogue, including the Republic of Moldova.

The report covers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. It focuses on actions taken to ensure the continuous fulfilment of visa liberalisation benchmarks, migration, asylum and readmission, judicial cooperation with the EU and with Member States, public order and security, and provides certain recommendations for each country.

The report says that, overall, Moldova continues to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks. “However, further efforts are needed to address the issue of unfounded asylum applications, as well as in the areas of financial fraud, anti-money laundering, the prevention and fight against corruption and organised crime.”

The EC report states that Moldova is making continuous efforts in order to improve the capacity of detection of false or falsified documents, both at the state borders and inside the country. At the same time, the number of Moldovan nationals being refused entry in Member States continued to rise by 28% in 2020, reaching the highest number on record. The number of Moldovan nationals attempting to cross the EU borders irregularly remained very low, while the number of Moldovan nationals found to be irregularly staying rose by 49%.

In 2020, the number of return orders issued to Moldovan nationals decreased by 10%. The number of effective returns was 44% less than in
2019. The return rate decreased from 63% in 2019 to 39% in 2020.

When it comes to judiciary, the report concludes that “Moldova has invested substantially in policy reforms to combat the nexus of corruption, organised crime and illicit financial flows. However, there is still room to strengthen and streamline capacity and results in the seizure and confiscation of assets linked to illicit activity.”

“In 2020, a new Chief Prosecutor for the Office of Combatting Organised Crime was selected without competition.”

Additionally, investigation and prosecution of the 2014 banking fraud “had been repeatedly postponed, charges had been dropped against shareholders in the affected banks and convicted perpetrators had been released from prison early,” the report also mentioned.

Therefore, the European Commission recommended: tailoring the information campaigns on the visa-free regime to relevant migrant
profiles, ensuring further alignment of Moldova’s visa policy with the EU lists of visa-required third countries, adopting a strategy and action plan for justice reforms, as well as making constitutional amendments related to the judiciary in line with the Venice Commission’s recommendations, ensuring that judicial appointments are carried out in a merit-based and transparent selection process, ensuring the effective implementation of the asset declaration system by high-level actors, imposing effective division of the competences of the anti-corruption agencies, and ensuring that the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office focuses on high-level corruption cases.

The report also included recommendations regarding implementing the law on anti-money laundering sanctions, progressing in the investigation and prosecution of major money laundering schemes, setting up a new asset recovery mechanism and finalising the investigation of the 2014 banking fraud with the purpose of bringing all responsible to justice and recovering the misappropriated funds.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration takes note of the findings and recommendations of the European Commission’s report and expresses its readiness to continue, together with other competent national authorities, cooperation with the representatives of the European Commission in order to implement those recommendations,” is mentioned in a press release of the Moldovan institution.

Photo: unknown

Continue Reading

Elections

Constitutional Court confirmed the parliamentary election results and validated the list of MPs

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Constitutional Court (CC) confirmed the legality of the results of the parliamentary elections held on July 11 and validated the list of Members of Parliament (MPs) in a decision issued today.

The Court noted that three political parties have obtained the minimum representation threshold in Parliament: the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists (EBCS) and the “Shor” Political Party. The number of seats in Parliament established by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) was as following: PAS – 63 seats; EBCS – 32 seats; “Șor” PP – 6 seats.

“The Court did not find any infringements likely to influence the results of the voting and the allocation of seats. The Court, therefore, confirmed that the snap parliamentary elections of 11 July, 2021, were organized and conducted correctly, by universal, equal, direct, secret and free suffrage.”

The CC also noted that, according to the information presented by the CEC, all the candidates included in the list were eligible for the position of MP and have submitted declarations that they are not prohibited from holding office.

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, signed the Decree convening the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova of the 11th Legislature. The first plenary session of the new Parliament will take place on Monday, July 26.

“Next, is the election of the governing and working bodies of Parliament, as well as the investiture of a new Government. The problems are many and complex, we have no time to waste. I hope that the new Parliament will be able to quickly regain the trust of the citizens in this important institution through correct and courageous decisions, which will stop corruption and will improve the living conditions of the people,” said President Maia Sandu.

In the meantime, preparations are underway in the Parliament building to set up the new Legislature.

Source: multimedia.parlament.md

The Constitutional Court ascertained, on April 15, that the conditions justifying the dissolution of the Parliament were met. On April 28, President Maia Sandu signed the decree of dissolving the previous Legislature and announced the date of snap parliamentary elections.

See also: There will be a majority government in Moldova’s Parliament

Photo: privesc.eu

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Latest News

Society2 years ago

“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees

Reading Time: 3 minutes At the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In...

Important2 years ago

#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression

Reading Time: 2 minutes The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform...

Important2 years ago

How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained 

Reading Time: 3 minutes From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of...

Opinion2 years ago

Russia And Ukraine At The Beginning of 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes This opinion piece was written by Dr. Nicholas Dima. Dr. Dima was formerly a Professor of Geography...

Culture2 years ago

The man raising children on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutes On the Nistru, near the village of Varnița, a few colored pens with blue dots in...

Culture2 years ago

The village of the first astronomer in the Republic of Moldova

Reading Time: 5 minutes From eight in the morning till noon, every Thursday and Sunday, people lay their merchandise on...

Culture2 years ago

The prodigal son returns and turns his grandparents’ home in a tourist attraction on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutes On the road towards the school, a well-maintained rural house catches your eye, yellow stags painted...

Advertisement

Opinions

Advertisement

Trending