Minister of Justice: Withdrawal or resignation of CSM member required

Chisinau, 22 Sep. /MOLDPRES/- Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru said today that she is carefully following the statements of the concerned institutions regarding information such as that one of the members of the Supreme Council of Magistracy (CSM), recently appointed by the Parliament, would be accused in a corruption case, considering that he must withdraw.

"It is welcome that parliamentary hearings are to be held on this issue to clarify all the circumstances and take appropriate action. However, one thing is certain, if the concerned CSM member did not indicate in the pre-vetting Commission questionnaire about the fact that he appeared as an accused in a criminal case, it raises serious doubts about his integrity", the official said.

"Thus, in order not to discredit the image and the efforts made in the reform of justice as a whole, his withdrawal or resignation is required", the Minister of Justice said.

The legal commission on rules and immunities announced for September 25, at 11.00, parliamentary hearings on this case.

The National Anticorruption Center yesterday confirmed to the Pre-Vetting Commission CSM member Iulian Muntean's capacity to be accused in the criminal case, including the fact that the data could not be previously identified due to the lack of recording of this order in the Information Register Criminalistics and Criminology of the Information Technologies Service of the MAI.

For his part, Iulian Muntean came up with a reaction to the information related to his targeting in a criminal case, started on corruption by the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office in 2018. Muntean said that this so-called case was manufactured at order of Plahotniuc regime, as a method of intimidation.