Suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo calls for the resignation of Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco and members of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Council (CSP), involved “in the illegal actions of suspension from the position of Prosecutor General, illegal prosecution, with falsification of the performance evaluation procedure”, as well as holding them and others criminally responsible.

According to Alexandr Stoianoglo, a complaint to this effect was filed on Thursday, 8 December, at the Prosecutor General’s Office.

“For more than a year I have been trying to convince the public that I have not violated anything and that the criminal cases brought against me and my colleagues are fabricated and politically motivated. The so-called evaluation of the Prosecutor General, initiated by President Maia Sandu, is nothing but a well-directed scenario. The aim of these actions was to remove the Prosecutor General from office by any means and at any price and to subordinate the Prosecutor General’s Office and the entire justice system to the ruling party and, personally, to President Sandu”, said suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo at a press conference on Thursday, 8 December.

He referred to the alleged leaks of Minister Litvinenco’s correspondence, saying he “disapproves of this form of information”. However, Stoianoglo claims that “information of major public interest resulting from these leaks, which endangers state security, seriously violates the country’s legislation, blatantly affects the rights and interests of individuals, cannot be ignored”.

“Is there anyone else who does not understand who was really behind the process of fabricating criminal files against me? Who gave the orders for my detention and arrest, forced judges and prosecutors, members of the CSP to deliberately take illegal decisions to release me from office?” points out Alexandr Stoianoglo.

Contacted by ZdG, Sergiu Litvinenco said that he does not comment on the suspended prosecutor general’s statements.

“I do not comment on the statements of Mr. Stoianoglo, who, as is known, is under investigation on several charges, including release from prison and suspicious links with the leader of an oligarchic group. This is probably a defence strategy, which he is entitled to have,” Minister Litvinenco said.

CSP chair Angela Motuzoc said she could not comment on Stoianoglo’s accusations as “she had a separate opinion”.

“The complaints that have been filed are directly related to his previous work and the appointment of the prosecutor to examine the actions. There were separate opinions from me and Mrs Furtună, so I cannot comment on them. Regarding the leaks, a press release was issued. At the same time, we have made a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office to find out at what stage the investigations have been launched,” the CSP chairwoman said.

Presidency officials did not respond to ZdG’s request for comment on Stoianoglo’s accusations.

The prosecutor appointed by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Council, Victor Furtuna, announced at the end of September the termination of the prosecution of suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, indicted on three counts.

Specifically, the suspended Prosecutor General is charged with the offences of:

• abuse of office, “committed in the interest of a criminal organization, manifested by the release from detention of the convicted Veaceslav Platon and illegal waiver of the prosecution”, as a result of which a damage in the amount of more than 869 million lei was allegedly caused to the national public budget (Art. 47, 327 para.(3) of the Criminal Code);
• passive bribery, “manifested by receiving and accepting goods and advantages in any form not due to him from Veaceslav Platon”, in the amount of about 63 million lei (Article 324 of the Criminal Code);
• false declarations, characterised by the intentional non-inclusion in the declaration of assets and personal interests of the fact that his wife, as of 5 January 2021, is one of the beneficial owners of a company registered in Ukraine (Article 352/1(2) of the Criminal Code)

At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) announces that the criminal prosecution is also terminated against two prosecutors of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases, who are charged with having acted jointly and in concert with the suspended Prosecutor General in the release from detention of the convicted Veaceslav Platon and unlawfully dropping the charges (art. 327 (3) of the Criminal Code).

“We inform the public, that the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is still conducting criminal prosecution on two other criminal cases in which the suspended Prosecutor General is concerned and which relate to the abuse of office committed as former chairman of the National Security, Defense and Public Order Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, as well as on his illicit enrichment,” the PG emphasizes.

Alexandr Stoianoglo was arrested on 5 October 2021. He was under house arrest until March 2022. He is being investigated for passive bribery, false statements, abuse of office and exceeding official duties. The suspended head of the PG denies all charges and pleads not guilty.