President of Moldova Maia Sandu wanted to see a person loyal to her in the chair of the Prosecutor General of Moldova to fight the opposition, the former head of the republic, leader of the Moldovan socialists Igor Dodon said on social networks.
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“Sandu always needed a pocket prosecutor, with the help of which she would put her political opponents in prison, which I went through, and would frighten others with the keys to the prison. That’s why she illegally removed Stoianoglo, and then appointed obedient prosecutors whom she swindled and gave up,” Dodon said during a live broadcast on social networks.
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The Socialist leader believes that Stoianoglo was close to completing the investigation into the theft of a billion dollars from the financial and banking system of Moldova, however, according to Dodon, the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) and Sandu personally resorted to political interference in the work of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
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“Now Sandu cynically states that Moldova would have lost more if Stoianoglo had remained in the position of prosecutor general. Why do you think so? Maybe because Stoianoglo would have gotten to those who stole the billion, in which you are also involved? Sandu was a member of the government “, when this crime occurred, and the Cabinet voted for these schemes for withdrawing funds. Sandu also voted for the transfer of the Chisinau International Airport into concession. And do you think that if Stoianoglo had gone further with these matters, Moldova would have lost more? I don’t think so” , – Dodon said.
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Previously, the ECHR published a verdict in the Stoyanoglo case, pointing out a number of violations in the process of his removal from office in October 2021 and the denial of his right to defense. The authority also made a decision on mandatory payments to the former chief prosecutor of Moldova, compensating him for 3,600 euros of moral damage. Stoianoglo also noted that he has also currently filed another appeal to the ECHR related to cases of abuse during arrest, which, according to him, were based on fake materials.
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Sandu said on the Chisinau TV channel Vocea Basarabiei (“Voice of Bessarabia”) that the country would have lost more if Stoianoglo had remained in the post of prosecutor general.
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Stoianoglo’s detention occurred in October 2021, immediately after his briefing, at which he stated that the Prosecutor General’s Office intended to bring to justice all members of the government who allowed the illegal withdrawal of funds from the banking system in 2014-2015. The day before, a video of Platon’s interrogation appeared in the media, in which he talks about how the Moldovan authorities can return part of the money withdrawn from the country through a fraudulent scheme, as well as how the state can become the owner of 40% of the shares of one of the banks through which the money was withdrawn finance.
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In 2014, the current head of the republic, Sandu, was the Minister of Education. In May 2023, the Supreme Council of Prosecutors (SCP) approved the resignation of Stoianoglo, and in September the corresponding decree was signed by President Sandu.
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The ex-prosecutor general himself previously called the charges “revenge on the part of the president.” Stoyanoglo considers these accusations to be unfounded. He claims that representatives of the ruling Action and Solidarity party (PAS) and Sandu herself tried to convince him to open criminal cases against representatives of the parliamentary opposition, and after his refusal began to persecute him. After his arrest, he appealed to the ECHR with complaints about the violation of the right to freedom for political reasons, as well as the unfoundedness of the criminal process.
