Weekly Roundup: Vetting Pushes Mass Resignation of Judges
May 11, 2024
Justice Reform - Mass Resignations of Judges
This week 20 of the 40 judges on the Chisinau Court of Appeals resigned en-masse. This marks the largest mass resignation of judges in Moldovan history. Most judges cited “personal reasons” as the reason for their resignation and on May 7th the Superior Council of Magistracy accepted each departure in turn.
Whatever “personal” motivations supposedly struck all the judges at once, there is a more clear explanation for the mass departure. On April 12th the Vetting Commission announced that they would begin vetting the Court of Appeals in 30 days. In that time judges who did not wish to undergo the vetting procedure could resign. In the end half of them did.
During the vetting process judges undergo a series of checks into their personal finances and that of their close family. “Passing” vetting means that official income and expenditures match within the tolerances set by the law on vetting. “Failing” would indicate sources of illicit or unexplained wealth. Failing vetting results in the removal of a judge, loss of pension and a ban on holding official positions for some years.
It’s impossible to definitively speak to the motivations of the resigned judges. Many of them had checkered histories with past corruption cases (all dropped) or rulings overturned by the European Court of Human Rights. Most had served in the judicial system for a very long time, some since the 90s. Possibly some believed that they would not stand up to the scrutiny, others might have just decided it was time to retire. Whatever the case, they are gone. Without even beginning the vetting process half of the judges of the court resigned. They will be replaced by new judges who themselves undergo vetting prior to appointment.
In the short term this is likely to cause real stress within the Court of Appeals. The court is supposed to be staffed with 57 judges, meaning that they were already short 17 positions. Alexandru Bot, expert with Watchdog spoke to Newsmaker about the likely stress this will put on the system:
“Such a mass resignation will definitely negatively affect the work of the Chisinau Administrative Office, since all cases in this instance are considered by a panel of three judges. That is, the absence of at least one leads to the cancellation of the meeting. Therefore, we can safely say that the consideration of cases will not even last for many months, but for many years.” - Alexandru Bot Watchdog expert
Crime and Corruption
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top stories in crime and corruption of the past 2 weeks:
Updates in the case of Ana Maria. Police and prosecutors have not officially released updates in the case, but Ana Maria’s mother spoke to journalists and suggested that her daughter may have known the main suspect. She said that Ana Maria’s boyfriend worked at the same prison as lead suspect Gheorghe Cotorobai and through that connection her daughter may have known him - a relationship that would explain why she got in the car. Her mother stated that she did not know if the boyfriend had any involvement. She also stated that she fears for her own safety because of the Cotorobai family, especially Gheorghe’s brother Alexei. Moldova Matters covered the story of the kidnapping and murder of Ana Maria in a quick-hit article last week.
Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat was acquitted of alleged money laundering charges. The case was brought in 2019 and focused on 12.8 million lei that the former PM allegedly embezzled from the Banca de Economii and transferred to a DC based consulting firm via his brother. This firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, then used these payments to support the former PM’s political party PLDM. Prosecutors had been asking for 7 years in prison and a 12 million lei fine and they have stated that they will appeal the case. Of the 3 judges sitting on the panel hearing the case one, Judge Djeta Chistol, submitted her resignation on May 3rd as part of the mass resignations and therefore will not undergo vetting.
On April 30th the first hearing in the case of illegal party financing against Bashkan Gutsul was held. Defense lawyers requested that the hearing be delayed because one co-defendant had not identified a lawyer and because the charging documents had not been presented to the accused in Russian. The judge accepted the delay and ordered the next hearing set on May 27th. Following the hearing, Gutsul again made statements calling the case political and saying that “Even a quick glance at the materials [of the case]” implied it was political. She did not explain how she could comprehend the case materials at a “quick glance” if she could not read Romanian.
Testimony was heard in the case against former Socialist MPs Irina Lozovan and Alexandr Nesterovschi. Both politicians were stripped of parliamentary immunity in 2023 after defecting from the Socialist to Ilan Shor’s Renaissance Party and allegedly offering bribes to other Socialist politicians. Victor Artamaniuc, the mayor of Ocnita, testified that Irina Lozovan and her husband initially offered him $5,000 to defect and then upped this to $50,000 when he initially refused. He testified that they told him "15 minutes of shame, but then you're a millionaire" (millionaire in Moldovan lei). Lozovan’s husband Pavel Gîrleanu was later arrested in a sting while bringing $30,000 in cash to the mayor.
SIS spoke about the searches at the airport of delegates returning from Shor’s recent events in Moscow. They explained that the service monitored national security threats and implied that they also recruit agents saying:
“At the same time, when fulfilling their tasks of collecting data on security threats to Moldova, Service employees may, under the conditions provided by law, publicly or secretly involve persons with their consent to provide support in ensuring the security of the state,”
Political Updates
The main political story of the last 2 holiday weeks was a surprise interview that President Sandu gave to Russian youtube Journalist Yury Dud. This is an interesting story, but too long for the Weekly Roundup format so I’ve broken it off into a stand alone quick-hit article that will arrive in your inbox tomorrow morning.
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top political stories of the last 2 weeks:
The Bureau of Reintegration announced that 80% of Transnistria’s exports now go to EU countries. The block also accounts for 56% of the region’s imports. The Bureau stressed the increasing trade with the EU is due to Moldova’s integration efforts and that more and more benefits of EU integration are being felt in Transnistria.
Politico wrote a story about the increasing use of AI tools in Russian disinformation in Moldova. The story is worth reading in full and notes that experts have identified the first use of AI comments and social media posts being directed against Moldova. They cite experts who believe that the Kremlin will double the budget for disinformation targeting Moldova from $50 million dollars in 2023 to $100 million in 2024.
Moldova celebrated 10 years of visa free travel to Europe. The Institute of European Policies and Reforms estimated that Moldovans saved 270 million euros on paperwork alone in that period and noted that in the last decade 2.15 million Moldovans have visited Europe with 31.2 million border crossings into Romania alone.
Moldova for Education announced that Huawei has pledged 1 million lei for a “digital classrooms” program in schools. So far 12 companies have pledged 18 million lei as part of the Ministry of Education’s model schools modernization plan.
Rectors of the Moldova Technical University (UTM) and Moldova State University (USM) have proposed that the institutions merge. The universities brought the proposal to the Ministry of Education independently and argue that a merger conducted on a peer basis would create a more competitive institution with lower administrative costs. Minister Perciun stated that he supports the initiative but that no decision is likely to be made before the end of the year citing the need for talks and consultations. He said that it is possible that the resulting institution would be renamed the "University of Chisinau" or some similar rebranding.
Alexander Tarnavsky was ousted as the Deputy Speaker of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia in a vote of 19 for, 1 against and 13 abstentions. Other deputies in the body accused Tarnavsky of “trying to destroy the autonomy from the inside.” He responded saying that “I stood for only one thing: to have a constructive dialogue with Chisinau.” Tarnavsky has previously criticized the Bashkan, her affiliation with Shor and the zero-sum approach being taken in relation to Chisinau. Reacting to the news, Janis Mazeiks, head of the EU Delegation to Moldova stated:
“This was very disappointing news for me. Since Mr. Tarnavsky was one of those who actively promoted the idea of dialogue between Chisinau and Comrat. (…) it is alarming that the authorities of Gagauzia are increasingly moving away and taking the path of self-isolation. But I hope that there will be a solution that will turn the situation around,”
The Church Schism was on display at Easter. This year the Moldovan Metropolis (Russia) and Bessarabian Metropolis (Romania) independently brought the sacred fire from Jerusalem to Moldova for Easter. The Deputy Chairman of the Renaissance party posted pictures of himself accompanying the delegation of the Moldovan Metropolis in Jerusalem. Church officials stated that they had no knowledge the political figure was there and that Ilan Shor did not financially support the bringing of the fire in 2024. Shor previously stated that he contributed financially to the bringing of the fire in 2022. According to the 2014 census 96% of Moldovans identify as Orthodox Christians. We will see in the next few months whether or not this number changes in the 2024 census.
International Affairs and Security
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top news stories in International Affairs and Security from the last 2 weeks:
President Sandu spoke at a conference in Brussels discussing the formation of the next EU budget. At the conference she called for a new Marshall Plan saying:
"This brings me to the heart of my message today: EU enlargement is key to EU security. By integrating more countries, the EU expands its zone of stability to a wider region, which in turn strengthens our collective resilience against external pressures and threats" (…)
"We must understand that speed is more and more important. We are in a race against time as we confront forces with a dark vision for our continent - a vision that we cannot allow to prevail over our aspirations for a prosperous and united Europe. To turn our aspirations into reality, we will need even more support from the EU in the next budget as we prepare for membership" (…)
“Just as Western Europe received an economic lifeline after the Second World War through the American Marshall Plan, Moldova and Ukraine need an equivalent of this plan for the 21st century from the EU.”
Moldovan Valeriu Ghiletchi appeared onstage with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during pre-election debates. This odd pairing came about as a result of the EU’s Spitzenkandidat process whereby each political party in the EU Parliament puts forward a candidate to become Commission President should their party win a majority or form a coalition in the new EU parliament. Each party with seats in the parliament can pick a candidate who then automatically gets included in the debates. Mr. Ghiletchi is the leader of the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) which has 5 seats in the EU parliament. Ghiletchi is a former bishop in an evangelical church in Moldova and served in parliament as an MP with the PLDM. He later supported the Plahotniuc government and ran for president in 2016 garnering 1.08% of the vote.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused Moldova of genocide. She stated that the Moldovan government is using "eugenic" practices comparable to the Third Reich and particularly citied the recognition of the Romanian language (rather than the fictional “Moldovan language”) as “one of the elements of genocide against an entire people.” The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) identified this language in a report noting the shift in tone from “persecution” of Russians in Moldova to “genocide” as setting the stage for future Russian military intervention in the country. Moldova Foreign Minister Popsoi responded saying:
“Ms. Maria Zakharova’s willingness to speak out on various issues, including those that go beyond her professional competence, is no longer surprising. In this regard, we do not consider it necessary to take her statements regarding the language issue seriously, since Maria Zakharova is not an expert in the field of linguistics. At the same time, let us recall that in 2003 Maria Zakharova successfully defended her dissertation on the topic “Transformation of understanding the symbolism of the traditional New Year celebration in modern China.” We believe that in matters related to the celebration of the New Year, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry has no equal,”
Moldova announces new military exercises with US troops. From May 9 - 16th 400 Moldovan and American soldiers will take part in the exercise “Swift Response 2024" in Moldova. Elements of Moldova’s Fulger Army Special Forces, a motorized infantry brigade and the US 82nd airborne will take part. The exercise will involve parachute jumps from 2 American C130 aircraft.
The Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance has requested additional documentation from 7 TV channels and 2 radio stations. Since the end of the state of emergency, this council is primarily responsible for decisions regarding removing licenses from broadcasters affiliated with Russian propaganda or who have illegal financing (aka Shor). All stations in Moldova were required to submit reports about their ownership and financing to the council at the end of last year and 37 of these reports were approved. The council’s published decision on requesting additional documentation from these channels alleged all but one of them were part of the “Plahotniuc-Shor group” - allegations that were not clearly explained. One station, N4, issued a press release categorically denying links to Ilan Shor and allegations of money laundering by one of the station’s founders. They noted that they are cooperating with the investigation. Government Spokeman Daniel Voda later sought to clarify the requests, and call out disinformation circulating on Telegram that these channels would soon be banned, saying:
“The council’s task is to ensure national security and ensure that investments in the media market are not carried out by criminal individuals or groups. An audit has begun, and questions have arisen for some companies. Nobody is saying that their licenses will be revoked. They were simply asked for financial documents. If everything is in order with the documents, then everything is fine, [the companies’ applications] will be considered further,”
Economics and Infrastructure
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top economic and infrastructure stories of the last 2 weeks:
Moldova’s National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) announced that Moldovan poultry has been accepted for import into the EU. Chicken, refrigerated or frozen, can now be exported by producers meeting the license standard. Previously in March 2023 the EU opened up its market to Category A eggs from Moldova.
The Ministry of Economy has announced an expansion of the 373 business loan guarantee mechanism. The expansion will allow more types of companies to apply for loans covering a larger set of investment types. The process of loan application will also be simplified.
The Ministry of Energy and USAID signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of a new 400kV high voltage line Străseni-Gutinaș. This is the 3rd planned high voltage line linking Moldova and Romania. It will be 190 km long with 70 km constructed on Moldovan territory. USAID has pledged $220 million dollars in the coming years to support Moldova’s energy infrastructure, some of which will be spent on this line. Construction is set to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2029. In May Moldova will continue to buy more than 86% of its electricity from MoldGRES in Transnistria.
Happy 2nd (3rd?) Easter!
This coming Monday Moldovans will head out to the nation’s cemeteries to spend Memorial Easter with their lost loved ones. On this day people eat food and drink wine in the graveyard. Food is left on the graves and glasses of wine poured out for the deceased. The celebration of Memorial Easter (also sometimes called “Easter of the Dead”) is relatively common in the Orthodox Christian world but the date and format observed here are unique to Moldova. For those who mark the day, I wish you a Happy Memorial Easter. Next week we will finally leave the 2 solid weeks of holidays and get back to more or less normal schedules in Moldova.