CHISINAU. Oct 6 (Interfax) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu has rejected accusations from detained Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, who has called prosecution against him the president's revenge.
"The decision to analyze the enquiry in relation to the prosecutor general was adopted by the Superior Council of Prosecutors, while the decision on his detention belongs to the prosecutor appointed by the Superior Council of Prosecutors," Sandu said on Facebook on Wednesday when commenting on Stoianoglo's detention yesterday.
"The expectations of Moldovan citizens are lawful: to live in a country free of corrupt clans. People demand justice. And the state's institutions responsible for fighting corruption must heed these expectations and must always act in accordance with the law. The president of the country wants the same as other citizens: that the law must be strictly obeyed, that there should not be any abuse and that anyone who has done something illegal must be held to account in accordance with the law," she said.
Moldova's Superior Council of Prosecutors is meeting at the moment to select a candidate for acting prosecutor general, who is appointed to this post by a presidential decree.
Stoianoglo was detained for 72 hours on Tuesday. He faces charges under four articles of Moldova's Criminal Code: abuse of office, exceeding his authority, passive corruption, and perjury.
As Stoianoglo was led out of the Prosecutor General's Office building on Tuesday morning, he yelled to reporters that this is the president's revenge.
Anti-corruption prosecutors and officers the Information and Security Service entered the building of the Moldovan Prosecutor General's Office 30 minutes before Stoianoglo's press briefing, which was due to start at 6:00 p.m. After searching his office, they brought Stoianoglo home, where a search continued for several more hours.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Superior Council of Prosecutors decided to open a criminal case against Stoianoglo. He is charged with committing a series of dubious transactions with fugitive oligarch Veaceslav Platon.
Stoianoglo, for his part, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the new Moldovan authorities are putting pressure on the Prosecutor General's Office, trying to force him to resign, but he is not going to do so.