PA and SIS deny allegations of espionage by Arina Spătaru
Members of the Coaliția pentru Unitate și Bunăstare (CUB) party have demanded explanations from the Anti Corruption Prosecutor's Office (PA) and the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) regarding the operation in which the president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), Arina Spătaru, was involved.
The politician claims that thanks to her involvement, a scheme was exposed through which the fugitive politician Ilan Șor would finance political parties in the Republic of Moldova. The two institutions claim that the investigative measures with the participation of Arina Spătaru were carried out only on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
"This is the first time that a politician has claimed to have undertaken espionage activities," said today, at a press conference, the president of the CUB party, Igor Munteanu. In connection with this case, the members of CUB are asking the head of the PA and the director of the SIS if they authorised a secret operation on the territory of another country, namely Israel.
"Ms. Drăgălin, I ask you to confirm if you visited the city of Bălți, in the period March-April 2023 to authorise an espionage operation on the territory of the State of Israel? On the basis of what competences and qualifications did you identify Marina Spătaru to be involved in this investigation?" Igor Munteanu asked.
At the same time, he asked a question to the director of the SIS, Alexandru Musteața:
"If the things told in the conference on Friday are true, who authorised the undercover operation for a person from outside the system," the politician made sure to specify.
At the same time, Igor Munteanu also asked if the head of the SIS authorised the involvement of "secret agents within a political party," which would be illegal.
The special investigative measures carried out within the criminal case were authorised by the prosecutor and the judge and carried out exclusively on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, commented the PA. The institution specified that on the territory of the State of Israel, no special investigative measures with the participation of Arina Spătaru were authorised or carried out. She was given the status of undercover investigator after being heard as a witness on the sidelines of discussions held in Israel with Ilan Șor.
At the same time, the SIS claims that it provided operational support in the framework of the criminal case managed by the PA and, likewise, confirms that the special investigative measures carried out within the criminal case were authorised by the prosecutor and the judge and carried out only on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
Arina Spătaru commented to our radio station that members of the CUB are putting pressure on her and other people involved, in order to compromise the investigation.
The former MP of the Platform DA, Arina Spătaru, announced on September 22, that she worked undercover to help law enforcement agencies expose the scheme of illegal financing of several parties by the fugitive politician Ilan Șor. She stated at a press conference that Alexandr Nesterovschi, the MP who lost his immunity and was detained on September 21 by CNA officers, would have tried several times to convince her to act in Ilan Șor's interests.
In a recent video post, the fugitive politician Ilan Șor, who was definitively sentenced to 15 years in the banking fraud case, stated that he will finance, through a newly created foundation, "any party that is ready to go against the pro-Western regime in the Republic of Moldova."
Translation by Iurie Tataru
