Orhei District President Dinu Turcanu will appear in court next week in the case of driving a vehicle while intoxicated with alcohol or in a state of intoxication caused by other substances. Specifically, the first hearing – to prepare the case – is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19.

Dinu Țurcanu is charged with driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol to an advanced degree, for which he could be punished with unpaid community service of 200 to 240 hours, with the cancellation of the right to drive a vehicle.

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According to information published on the court portal, the criminal case will be examined by magistrate Viorica Severin of the Orhei court, which ZdG wrote about in May 2016, in the context of the acquittal of former MP Constantin Țuțu in the criminal case opened in April 2012 after the murder of Alexei Veretca in the courtyard of a restaurant in the Orhei forest.

The case has been before the Chisinau Court of Appeal since February 2020, after the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) ordered a retrial by the appeal court.

Viorica Severin examined the case with two other judges. She was appointed as a judge at the same time as the case was being examined, in May 2015, replacing Viorelia Varanita, who transferred to the Botanica Court while the case was being examined. Viorica Severin was a prosecutor at the Orhei Prosecutor’s Office until her appointment as a judge.

The Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) accepted the request for resignation of Judge Viorica Severin from the Orhei Court, central seat, at the end of November 2017, except that a few days later the magistrate withdrew her request and continued her work.

ZdG contacted Dinu Țucanu, but he did not return calls.

The president of Orhei district, who was found by law enforcement officers to be in an advanced state of drunkenness at the wheel of a car, has had his driving licence suspended.

According to ZdG sources, the Orhei Court decided on Wednesday, August 9, to suspend Turcanu’s right to drive while he is under investigation for drunk driving.

ZdG wrote on Monday, August 7, that according to images published by the police, Țucanu appears to have been stopped in traffic after an event organized by the declared unconstitutional party Șor. This was the Guitar Festival, held on 4-5 August in the commune of Jora de Mijloc.

The Drager test showed that the Orhei district president had a breath alcohol concentration of 0.53 md/l, i.e. he was in an advanced state of drunkenness.

At the time, the General Inspectorate of Police (IGP) reported that 52 drivers had been found drunk over the weekend, “including a district president”. According to ZdG sources, the district president is Dinu Turcanu, a representative of the former Shor party.

According to the law, advanced alcohol intoxication is defined as the state of a person with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.5 g/l and above or a concentration of alcohol vapour in the exhaled air of 0.3 mg/l and above.

The Criminal Code also stipulates that driving a means of transport by a person who is in a state of advanced alcohol intoxication or in a state of intoxication caused by narcotic substances and/or other substances with similar effects is punishable by unpaid community service of 200 to 240 hours, with the cancellation of the right to drive means of transport.