Moldova's authorities notify Russian Federation about abusive treatment of Moldovan officials in Russia

Chisinau, 09 March /MOLDPRES/ – Speaker Andrian Candu, and Prime Minister Pavel Filip held a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Moldova Farit Muhametshin, the meeting being attended by the Interior Minister Alexander Jizdan, Justice Minister Vladimir Cebotari and a representative of Foreign Ministry, the parliament's communication and public relations department has reported.

The theme of the discussion was submission of a note to the political leadership of Russia, which raised a number of abuses committed against officials of the Government, intelligence services and ruling coalition parties in Moldova.

Previously, the abuses were reported to Russian authorities throughout several demarches, including by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, but they went unanswered, while the situation has continued and even escalated.

The note described how the Moldovan officials were abusively stopped at entry into the Russian Federation, questioned, searched, treated humiliatingly by representatives of the Russian special services. Such behaviour is so inadequate, as well as unjustified.

Also it described the abusive method of one of Moscow institutions which tried several times in recent months to put under international monitoring several Moldovan politicians, including MPs, using for that purpose false information and truncated data. Their abusive requests were rejected for those reasons and for reasons of an obvious attempt of harassment to Moldovan officials.

There have been instances where such requests have been transmitted 15 times just for one person, which highlights the harassment policy. Each time the requests were rejected.

After this failure, the respective institutions of the Russian Federation passed to a new form of abuse, trying to impose international monitoring of the category of persons referred through bilateral relations of Russia with countries in the hope that they would not check thoroughly the information, so that to discover false data behind it. As a result, the Moldovan authorities began communication with these countries to stop that abuse again.

All these abuses, harassment of Moldovan officials at entry into the Russian Federation and putting them under international monitoring, occurred with advancing by Moldovan investigators within laundering investigations of $22 billion through Moldindconbank, money received from the Russian Federation. Specifically, such problems started immediately after there were arrested bank officials, judges and executors were put under accusation, some of them already sent to court. The abuses intensified with the requests submitted to the Russian Federation by Moldovan investigators, so that to obtain information on the provenance of the money mentioned, essential data for testing the whole truth in that case. Including mention that the investigation revealed links between some of the money and attempted bribery of MPs of the Parliament of Moldova.

There was highlighted the fact that only in recent months, at least 25 Moldovan officials were stopped and treated abusively at entry into the Russian Federation.

In the note sent, it is also reported the abuse to officers and Moldovan institutions in management of the said investigation, which is also subject to abusive behaviour at the entrance to the Russian Federation. Only toward an employee of the Internal Affairs Ministry (MAI), there were no less than 35 abusive interventions upon entering or leaving one of Moscow airports.

Another concern expressed is linked to the total lack of cooperation of law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation and Moldovan investigators in that case, and refusing to respond to letters rogatory sent by Moldovan prosecutors in the investigation of laundering $22 billion. There were violated several bilateral agreements and international agreements on it, to which the Russian Federation is a counterpart.

Speaker and Prime Minister notified Russian Ambassador Farit Muhametshin that they had received briefings from law enforcement institutions in Moldova on several types of risks related to Moldovan officials, including risks relating to movements in the Russian Federation. As a result, it was decided that official notes transmission to the Russian leadership, which calls for immediate action to stop abuse. Also, the Russian Ambassador was announced that to the solution of this problem, the Moldovan officials would be asked to refrain from traveling to the Russian Federation.

Both the note sent to Moscow, and in discussion with Ambassador Farit Muhametsin, the Speaker and Prime Minister mentioned that the data analyzed so far showed that the nature of the problem would not be political, these actions were initiated and instructed by one of the Russian special services which representatives conducting query of Moldovan officials when arriving in the Russian Federation. The Russian politician is therefore invited, in good faith, to clarify the situation from the perspective of domestic abuse.

Speaker Adrian Candu and Prime Minister Pavel Filip expressed their belief that the delicate situation would be cleared up in no time, abuses stopped, and those who had directed those actions be excoriated. Moldova wants cordial and constructive relations with the Russian Federation, mutual respect and cooperation in the interest of Moldova and Russia.