Moldova's Interpol has put oligarch Plahotniuc on international wanted list

Moldova's Interpol has declared oligarch and ex-leader of the state's Democratic Party Vladimir Plahotniuc on an international wanted list. This was reported by Moldova 1 TV channel on February 7.

It is specified that the Interpol file control commission informed the International Police Cooperation Directorate of the Inspectorate General of Police (IGP) that it accepted the request to add the former political party leader to the international wanted list.

The IGP, in turn, informed this on its social media accounts. Although the request did not mention the name of the former politician, the head of the anti-corruption prosecutor's office, Veronica Dragalin, confirmed in a telephone interview with Moldova 1 that Plahotniuc was involved.

"Plahotniuc's lawyer Lucian Rogaci also confirmed this information and said he will challenge the decision in order to obtain a new ruling that will cancel the Interpol search against Plahotniuc," the agency said.

Earlier, on October 4 last year, Moldovan authorities revoked the licenses of Prime and Publika TV channels, which provided a platform for the country's opposition politicians. These channels are owned by General Media Group Corp. Their management was accused of alleged links with oligarch and ex-leader of the Democratic Party of the state Vladimir Plahotniuc.

The day before, the telecommunications company Orange reported that the pages of Yandex, Zen and Rutube were blocked in Moldova at the request of the security service.

Earlier, on September 25, the provider reported on its portal about the blocking of seven resources: the website of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, two sites of RIA Novosti, pages of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Krymskaya Gazeta, and the TV channel Krym 24. Also included in the previous list was the site nuacum.eu.

On September 10, the country revoked the license of the company that owns the Canal 5 TV channel, which gave a platform to the Moldovan opposition. The text of the decision of the Moldovan council for the promotion of investment projects stated that the company was transferred to the Shor group, whose owner is Ilan Shor, the leader of the opposition political bloc Victory.

In early September, Shor said that the Moldovan authorities allow themselves to engage in lawlessness before the presidential elections in the country and violate the political rights of the opposition. The politician also noted that 14 TV channels had been closed in the country during the year.

The referendum on Moldova's integration into the EU will be held on the same day as the presidential election, October 20. According to the Moldovan constitution, the head of state is elected for four years.