Moldovan ex-PM still under arrest

Chisinau, 27 April /MOLDPRES/- The Court of Appeal has turned down an appeal by lawyers of former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, stipulating cancellation of the decision on extending the mandate of preventive arrest by another 30 days. The case prosecutor ,Adriana Betisor, made statements to this effect today.

The lawyer of the ex-prime minister, Igor Popa, said that the decision taken by magistrates of the Court of Appeal was groundless. “I did not notice the magistrates to objectively analyze the circumstances that were at the basis of prolongation of the preventive arrest, especially that the decision by the Buiucani-based law court is not based on evidence, and so all circumstances were to be assessed once again,” Popa said.

Touching upon the rejection of a warranty claim on prosecuting Filat at large, submitted by a group of Liberal Democrats and more culture people last week, Popa pointed out that, according to the judges, “none of the people coming to court as guarantors for releasing Filat represent an authority; for this reason, the claim was turned down,” Popa added.

The former prime minister, Vlad Filat, was arrested on 15 October 2015, based on a self-denouncement by Ilan Shor. The latter said he had given Filat bribes amounting to 250 million dollars .The defendant rejected the charges.

Filat has been in preventive detention for more than six months, being accused of influence peddling and passive corruption in the file on frauds at Banca de Economii (Savings Bank). 

(Reporter A. Plitoc, editor L. Alcaza)