Șor Party Deputy Chairman Vitalie Balinschi returned to Moldova and appeared before prosecutors
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announces that the Vice-Chairman of the Șor Party, Vitalie Balinschi, appeared before prosecutors on 7 March and was charged.
The Prosecutor's Office states that on 16 July 2022, after the names of the persons under investigation were disclosed, the Vice-Chairman of the Șor Party, together with other participants in the crime, left the territory of the Republic of Moldova in order to evade prosecution.
Thus, he was placed under indictment in absentia, and by an order of 23 September 2022, the search for the accused was ordered by the specialized subdivision of the National Anti-Corruption Centre.
Subsequently, in November last year, the Chisinau Court accepted the prosecutor's request to apply preventive arrest for 30 days, with the defendant being held in Prison No. 13. However, in February this year, the judges accepted the lawyer's request and the preventive detention measure was replaced by "provisional release under judicial control" for 30 days.
"By the same decision, the court ordered the defendant to report to the prosecution within 21 days from the date of the decision. The prosecutor in the case challenged the 15 February decision at the Chisinau Court of Appeal, arguing that the procedural law does not provide for consideration of a request to replace the preventive measure in the absence of the accused. By decision of the Criminal College of the Chisinau Court of Appeal of 23 February 2023, the appeal was rejected as unfounded, with the decision of 15 February 2023 being maintained in force. The courts have also proceeded similarly in the case of the accountant of the Șor political party," the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office said.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, Vitalie Balinschi is accused of participation (art. 42 para. (5) of the Criminal Code) and of illegal financing of political parties or electoral campaigns, violation of the management of the financial means of political parties or electoral funds (art. 181/2 para. (1) and Art. 181/2 para. (5) of the Criminal Code).
