PACE rapporteurs : “credible reforms urgently needed in the Republic of Moldova”

Valentina Leskaj (Albania, SOC) and Ögmundur Jónasson (Iceland, UEL), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by the Republic of Moldova, paid their first fact-finding visit to the country on 22-23 February 2016.

During our open and frank meetings with the authorities, we were assured that the country would remain committed to fulfill its obligations and commitments towards the Council of Europe. However, various interlocutors, including representatives of civil society, expressed their deep concern, mistrust and lack of confidence in parliament, government and state institutions which seems to be widespread. We also felt that there is a widely shared feeling that the country has been “captured” by oligarchs perceived to control a significant part of political stakeholders and officials, the justice system and the economy, which could prove devastating for the democratic foundations of the country. The recent bank scandal – one billion dollars disappeared from the banks - adds up to the frustration, if not the despair, of the citizens; some of the young, educated people see no other option than leaving the country to find a brighter future, which in turn would have a negative long-term impact on the country.

In this adverse context, the authorities in place bear a special responsibility towards the population. Authorities are expected to deliver credible reforms that have an immediate impact on the consolidation of democratic institutions – and to seriously address the legitimate concerns of the citizen with respect to rule of law, democracy and human rights, but also transparency and accountability of politicians and officials. These issues must be addressed as a matter of priority by the authorities, should the country want to remain genuinely committed to the standards of the Council of Europe and, ultimately, to improve people’ living conditions.

We therefore encouraged the authorities to adopt, and above all, implement, the announced reforms pertaining to the independence of the judiciary, the plurality and independence of the media, the fight against corruption and the consolidation of the banking system. We welcome the adoption of the long-expected law on the prosecution office that we expect to be fully in line with the Venice Commission recommendations. We were also assured that further significant steps would be taken in the coming weeks, as the parliament has prepared legislative packages on bank regulations and integrity laws.

We welcome the latest developments concerning the case of Grigore Petrenco, former PACE member, whose remand detention was suddenly changed into house arrest on the first day of our visit. Mr Petrenco´s release from prison is to be valued; it is however only an interim step in an ongoing procedure. We reiterate our call that Mr Petrenco, as any other citizen, should be entitled to fair trial with full procedural guarantees. The setting up of a parliamentary sub-committee chaired by the opposition, as proposed by the Speaker of the parliament, could play a useful role in this respect to supervise the procedure.

We visited the remand penitentiary n°13, where we had extensive talks with the Minister of justice and prison administration that we thank for their openness and availability. We reviewed the prison conditions in general and possible ways to improve the current situation.

We visited former Prime minister Mr Filat in pre-trial detention in prison 13, and evoked his detention conditions. As a Member of Parliament and chairman of the Liberal-Democratic Party, he raised the issue of his limited access to his party and to the parliament. We were also informed by the General Prosecutor that, at that stage, court hearings of Mr Filat are held in camera. Given the fact that this prominent case relates to the most important fraud in recent history, we hope however that this hearings can soon become public, as it is in the public interest to have the process as transparent as possible. We were assured by the authorities that all necessary steps will be taken to fully investigate the bank fraud, bring all those responsible to justice and address the systemic dysfunctioning of the institutions revealed by the bank scandal.

We discussed with the Minister of Interior the action undertaken during the mass protests, which brought tens of thousands of people in the streets in the past months, and culminated in violent protests on 20 January 2016 in front of the parliament, when the government was approved, resulting in policemen and some protesters being injured. We invite police forces to further show restraint, and refrain from using excessive force. We urged that all allegations of police misconduct, not to mention allegations of fabricated evidence, must be convincingly investigated in order to ensure trust in the police. We were assured that all measures would be taken to guarantee the citizens’ freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. In this context, we hope that the authorities will also refrain from undertaking any legal action against protesters that could have a chilling effect on critical voices”, the co-rapporteurs concluded.

During their visit, the co-rapporteurs met the Speaker of Parliament, the Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister for reintegration as well as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. They met Mr Filat and Mr Petrenco’s lawyers, the Director of the prison 13, the General Prosecutor, and the Director of the National Anti-corruption Centre. Discussions were also held with leaders of political parties, the Moldovan delegation to PACE, representatives of the international community and NGOs.

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