The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) informs about the closure of the criminal case against the suspended Prosecutor General (PG) Alexandr Stoianoglo, opened on February 4, 2022, on the fact of interfering in the course of justice, using his official position, in the processing of the case generically called “Expulsion of Turkish teachers”.

The PA notes that on 4 February 2022, the acting chief prosecutor of the AP, having been empowered by the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) to examine, in the order of superior hierarchical control, the complaint of the former member of the Moldovan Parliament Inga Grigoriu, ordered the annulment of the order of refusal to initiate criminal proceedings of 22 December 2021, issued by the prosecutor appointed by the SCP, Andrei Balan, against the suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, and criminal proceedings were initiated.

“Therefore, the prosecutor in charge of the case, when issuing the order to close the criminal case against the suspended PG Stoianoglo, justified his decision by the fact that the alleged act does not meet the constitutive elements of the criminal offence provided for in Article 303 paragraph (3) of the Criminal Code (Interference in the course of justice).

Moreover, the prosecutor motivated his decision by the fact that the assumption of the prosecution body that the suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo had interfered with the administration of justice in the case in question, in the absence of confirming evidence, is not sufficient to bring a criminal charge,” the PA announced in a statement.

The PA notes that the prosecutor’s decision to close the case may be challenged with a complaint to the superior prosecutor, within 15 days from the moment of becoming aware of the act, by the parties involved in the criminal proceedings, in the order provided for in Article 299/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Three years ago, the Moldovan authorities carried out an operation in which, in just a few hours, seven Turkish employees of the “Orizont” high school network were detained and expelled to Turkey. All Turkish nationals received prison sentences. Since September 2020, the criminal case has been pending at the Chișinău Court of Appeal, after the wife of Feridun Tufekci – the director of the Orizont high school branch in Ceadâr-Lunga who was expelled three years ago along with 6 other Turkish citizens – appealed to the Chisinau CA against the secret sentence of former SIS chief Vasile Botnari – the only person in the case.

On 11 June 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a judgment declaring that Moldova violated the rights of foreign citizens who were expelled from the territory of Moldova in September 2018. The ECHR found a violation of Articles 5.1 and 8, of the Convention on Human Rights and ruled that the Moldovan government will have to pay 25 thousand euros for five of the seven Turkish citizens whose rights were violated.