So-called law enforcement bodies in the Transnistrian region claim that the main suspect in the murder of Oleg Horjan is Andrei Duminică, whom the victim allegedly met in prison.

According to the so-called authorities in the Transnistrian region, Oleg Horjan died as a result of several injuries, received with different objects, allegedly inflicted by several people.

“The nature of the wounds, their depth and number allow us to conclude that there were several perpetrators, at least three. As for the murder weapons, the stab wounds were probably inflicted with a spear and the other injuries were inflicted with a pipe. Almost all the stab wounds are on the neck and back,” the so-called Transnistrian law enforcement agencies said.

The main suspect is Andrei Duminică, who served a prison sentence together with Oleg Horjan. After their release, the two maintained a close relationship, as confirmed by witness statements and calls received and made from Horjan’s phone book. At the same time, the same source states that there is information that after his release from prison, Sunday visited the house where Horjan’s body was found. The two allegedly communicated shortly before the murder via WhatsApp. Thus, it is assumed that Oleg Horjan himself let the perpetrators into his house.

Also, according to the so-called Transnistrian region’s law enforcement bodies the injuries were caused to obtain the code and key to the safe, which following the murder was found empty.

A further round of forensics is still pending.

Transnistrian communist leader found dead in his home

Oleg Horjan, the leader of the Communists in the Transnistrian region, was found shot dead in his home. The information was confirmed to the Guard newspaper by Diana Fetco, head of the Communication and Protocol Section of the General Police Inspectorate (IGP).

Subsequently, the so-called Investigative Committee in Tiraspol came up with the first statements on the death of Oleg Horjan, different from the information previously provided by the Moldovan police. According to them, multiple wounds were found in the neck and back area, as well as several injuries, probably caused by several blows with a hard object. At the same time, the so-called Investigative Committee wrote that the safe in Horjan’s office was open and empty.

In 2018, Oleg Horjan was sentenced by the alleged Transnistrian courts to a sentence in the form of deprivation of liberty for a term of 4 years and 6 months in Hlinaia Penitentiary for “violent actions against a public person/representative of power”. The reason for Oleg Horjan’s arrest was the holding of the public meeting on 2 June 2018 and his subsequent actions to defend the interests of the group of participants who were in illegal detention of the militia in the Transnistrian region following a peaceful protest.

In 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova (SCJ) found that as a result of Oleg Horjan’s conviction by “courts of law” that were not constituted in accordance with the law and that illegally assumed powers of dispensing justice in the Transnistrian region, he was deprived of the right to a fair trial provided by law, Promo-Lex Association announced in a press release.

On 23 July 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova made public its decision declaring the “Supreme Court of the RMN” judgment of 2 November 2018 (details here) and the decision of the “Appeals College of the Supreme Court of the RMN” of 28 December 2018 in the criminal case against Horjan Oleg as unconstitutional decisions adopted by bodies (details here).

In December 2022, Oleg Horjan was released from illegal detention. The information was confirmed at that time for Ziarul de Gardă by Pavel Cazacu, a lawyer at Promo-LEX Association.