VIDEO The first images from the courtroom with Vladimir Plahotniuc, suspected of the biggest robbery in the history of the Republic of Moldova. The oligarch managed to hide for years
Vladimir Plahotniuc, photographed on September 25 after landing in Chisinau, PHOTO: Vadim Ghirda / AP / Profimedia Images
Two months after his extradition to the Republic of Moldova, the oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday, December 2. So far he has avoided attending the hearings, saying he is examining the file materials. However, he did not answer the journalists' questions.
Escorted by masked men in court, Plahotniuc was assailed by journalists with questions, but the judges warned them that “they are not at a press conference or a television show” and took him out of the courtroom twice, according to Radio Europa Liberă Moldova.
The oligarch failed to make press statements, and after being brought into the courtroom for the third time, the journalists kept quiet and disconnected the cameras when the hearing began, as requested by judge Sergiu Stratan.
Greece announced on September 19 that it will extradite Plahotniuc to the Republic of Moldova. He was brought to Chisinau on September 25, 6 years after he fled the country.
Since then, he has refused to be brought to court from Penitentiary no. 13 from Chisinau, where he is in custody. Plahotniuc did not appear at any of the court hearings in which his case is examined on the merits, nor at those in which the prosecutors' actions regarding the extension of the arrest were examined.
The defendant each time wrote requests informing the judges that he needed time to study the materials in his 97-volume criminal file and requested that the hearing be held in his absence.
On December 1, Plahotniuc announced on the networks, through his lawyers, that he had “finally” managed to read his file and that he would participate “soon” in the hearings, in order to present to the magistrates “his own arguments and evidence” that would prove that the accusations brought against him are “unfounded” and the file is “political”.
The files of Vladimir Plahotniuc
Plahotniuc is the main suspect in connection with the disappearance in 2014 of a billion dollars from the banking system of the Republic of Moldova, an amount that was then equivalent to 12% of the country's GDP.
Before fleeing Moldova in 2019, he was the leader of the Democratic Party, part of the governing coalition in the period 2016-2019, and held the position of deputy president of the parliament.
During his tenure, he exerted great influence over the institutions.
In 2023, the EU imposed sanctions against Plahotniuc and six others for actions that the EU said destabilized and undermined the territorial integrity of Moldova and Ukraine.
According to Greek police, Plahotniuc, 59, has lived in 22 countries since 2023. He was arrested at Athens airport after boarding a plane bound for Dubai, following an Interpol notice stating that he held 16 passports, including from Romania, Mexico and Russia.
Russia, which says it wants Plahotniuc extradited to stand trial on drug-related charges, denies meddling in Moldova's affairs.
In Romania, the authorities opened an investigation against Plahotniuc, under the suspicion that several Romanian documents held by him are forged.
