President Maia Sandu about justice reform: "Russia spends much money to scare people in the system"
The justice reform in the Republic of Moldova is nearing its final stage, and the institutions are more functional today than "a few years ago," said President Maia Sandu on Radio Moldova's "La 360 de grade" program. The head of state argues that, although significant progress has been made, the process must continue to ensure a clean and efficient judicial system.
"I believe that this external evaluation has a certain impact: a certain cleaning was done, at least among the judges. Among the prosecutors, it is just beginning. Unfortunately, the process has been delayed a lot. The sooner the process is completed, the better for all the honest people in the system. But I believe that we, nevertheless, have an important part of the reform accomplished, and I believe that we will also start to see the results".
The head of state admits that the justice reform is not an "ideal" process, but says that "it is the best we could apply" and "the only way we can put the system in order". Also, Maia Sandu warned about the external risks that threaten this reform, especially the influences from the Russian Federation.
"Yes, there are big problems, including because the Russian Federation spends a lot of money to get involved in the justice system, to scare people who work in the system and who have to make decisions on cases that have the interests of the Russian Federation behind them. So, the Kremlin is trying to overwhelm us on all these dimensions, including political corruption, electoral corruption, but I think that the institutions today are doing better than before."
Asked about the evolution of the justice reform in the event that, after the parliamentary elections in the fall, forces that openly oppose it will come to power, Maia Sandu said that the future of the reform depends only on the voters. The head of state reiterated that only citizens can decide whether the next parliamentary majority will support the rule of law, justice, and the continuation of reforms.
"For the justice institutions, the most important reforms will be finalized by the elections. Regarding the evaluation of prosecutors, things have been postponed, and there are some risks regarding this reform, if there is no parliamentary majority that wants to put order in the system. But, I repeat, everything depends on the citizens".
Regarding the reorganization of the two specialized prosecutor's offices, Maia Sandu reiterated the need to consolidate them into a single "strong" institution. Regarding the Anti-Corruption Court, the head of state pointed that the law is ready, but it can be adopted only after the competencies of the future prosecutor's office responsible for combating corruption and organized crime are delimited.
We remind you that judiciary reform is a priority for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. The authorities in Chisinau assumed the cleaning of the system, including through the external evaluation of prosecutors and judges.
