Interim Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu requested on Monday, March 4, the approval of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) on the termination of the mandate of his deputy Igor Demciucin. The reason is said to be “loss of confidence” in him and “actions that call into question his respect for ethical principles”.

The acting head of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) announced that he would refer his deputy to the Prosecutors’ Inspectorate, declaring “absolute distrust” of Igor Demciucin.

“(…) Over time, he has been engaged in the accumulation of information and supervision of my work, events about which I was stunned to learn at the SCP meeting on 22 February. When the interview of the candidates for the position of Prosecutor General was held, the candidate prosecutor Igor Demciucin filed a request for recusal regarding the SCP members Dumitru Obada and Aliona Nesterov. I believe that the arguments put forward in support of these addresses could not go beyond the principles of the ethical standards for prosecutors established by the Code of Ethics for Prosecutors (…)”, Ion Munteanu said.

In relation to Demciucin’s request for the recusal of Alione Nesterov, Munteanu referred to the reason invoked in the request regarding the information circulated online that would suggest that “the relationship between the two (Nesterov and Munteanu n.r.) could be more than a simple professional collaboration”.

“Without commenting on this information vomit, I would like to point out that as long as certain conversations are conducted on anonymous channels, which cannot be identified, this situation that provokes discussion within a small circle of people, the number of subscribers of this channel, but when an official operates with this manipulation, in a public contest, broadcast live (…), the situation becomes like a deflagration capable of severely affecting the persons concerned, their family members, as well as the image of the institution and the public perception of the Prosecutor’s Office system,” Munteanu said.

Another argument invoked by the acting Prosecutor General for Demciucin’s dismissal is his statements for the recusal of Obada during the competition for the position of Prosecutor General. Demciucin said then that the SCP president had regular meetings with Munteanu, at which the deputy acting attorney general was not present.

“The situation regarding the collection of information and supervision of my activity as acting prosecutor general, in the absence of any powers or functional attributions performed by Demciucin makes me deduce that the continuation of the activity in the current format of manager is not only counterproductive, but also dangerous, given that it remains unclear what categories of information this person has accumulated and in whose interests he acts,” Munteanu pointed out.

In the interview for the Prosecutor General competition, which was cancelled by the SCP, Demciucin came second with a score of 8.19 out of 10.