After three decisions of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), which issued agreements to carry out criminal prosecution actions against three magistrates under criminal investigation for illicit enrichment – Tatiana Avasiloaie, Alexandru Gheorghieș and Ion Druță, were annulled on the same day, Monday, March 27, by magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeal, Ziarul de Gardă contacted the judges’ lawyers to explain their positions on the decisions issued by the appeal court.

The decisions of the Chisinau CA regarding the three magistrates do not annul the criminal prosecution actions carried out so far against them, nor do they release them from criminal responsibility, sources from the law enforcement bodies explained to ZdG. The cases initiated in the names of magistrates Gheorghieș and Avasiloaie are still at the stage of criminal prosecution. The criminal case in which Ion Druță is being investigated for illicit enrichment was sent to court in September 2022. The first hearing in this case took place in December 2022 and the second – on 14 March 2023.

Lawyer: “The nullity of these specific prosecution actions, which were authorised after obtaining the consent of the SCM, is drawn.”

Cristina Ciubotaru (Țărnă), who represents the interests of Alexandru Gheorghieș in the dispute with the SCM, argues that following the decision of the CA Chisinau “the very act of the search and, possibly, the things that have been seized or that have been seized as a result of the search, become illegal.”

“So, they consequently become illegal (…). The SCM’s own agreement to start the prosecution on that article is not necessary. The actual act by which the criminal prosecution was initiated is not threatened by yesterday’s decision adopted by the Chisinau CA, but only those resulting from the actions to which the SCM gave its consent and which were subsequently authorized by the court, they are invalid. I don’t know if they will contest or what the SCJ’s solution will be (…). Now, at the moment, the nullity of these specific prosecution actions that were authorized after obtaining the SCM’s consent is drawn. My client stated at the time of these searches that, in his opinion, this prosecution is an act of revenge for the fact that he in 2019 was elected President of the Extraordinary General Assembly of Judges and I agree with my client in this regard, because there were several magistrates who played an active role in the organization of this Extraordinary General Assembly of Judges, who one after another were targeted in cases of this kind, i.e. it cannot be a coincidence with certainty (… )”, said Cristina Ciubotaru.

Alexandru Tabarcea, the lawyer of Ion Druță, former president of the CSJ, said he was busy and would come back later with a reaction to the court’s decision. But he did not return our calls afterwards.

Magistrate Tatiana Avasiloaie, who continues to do justice at the Chisinau Court of Appeals, has told the lawyer representing her interests in the case with the National Integrity Authority that she does not wish to comment on the decision of the Chisinau CA.

On Monday, 27 March, three decisions of the SCM, which issued agreements to carry out criminal prosecutions against three magistrates under criminal investigation for illicit enrichment – Tatiana Avasiloaie, Alexandru Gheorghieș and Ion Druță, were annulled by the magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeal.

Ion Bocan, spokesman for the Chisinau Court of Appeal, informed us that the three SCM decisions were annulled for “procedural violations”. Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office consider the decisions as “unfounded and the appeal will be used”.