Moldovan justice minister says consideration of electoral corruption cases must be priority, without postponing

Chisinau, 11 November /MOLDPRES/ - The electoral corruption continues to stay a major problem, although more changes have been made in the criminal and civil legislation in the last years and the Moldovan authorities must adopt firmer measures to this end. Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru has made statements to this effect at a programme at Radio Moldova.     
Mihailov stressed that, to combat the phenomenon, it is essential that the files on electoral corruption are considered quicker, without delays, and in consecutive sessions till their finalization. ‘’The corruption causes must be examined at consecutive sessions, after the file is received in court; it is examined till finalization and without those situations of postponing for months, so that its finishing lasts. Another example would be the revising of the state of consideration of applications, so that all are exhausted at the preliminary stage and, not in the least, probably actions dealing with the disciplining of the sides in the action at law,’’ the minister noted.      
As for the electoral corruption cases, which involve crime rings, the official said that the process of investigation and examination is a complex one, which needs considerable resources. ‘’To have a sentence with certain results, evidence must be accumulated qualitatively, which should resist any requests of vitiation or of nullity. In court, such causes are considered very slowly. Regretfully, we have not had many sentences as regards the conviction of the people guilty of rigging the elections. Certain results were felt, but not enough,’’ Veronica Mihailov-Moraru said.      
The justice minister emphasized that the phenomenon of electoral corruption dealt also with the society’s mentality, as people are not fully aware of the seriousness of the buying of the vote, which undermines the democracy and the free expression.  ‘’The vote must be freely exercised and not a purchased one; it is about the defending of the democracy and on the other hand, a better enforcement of the law is needed and an as efficient as possible activity on behalf of the law-enforcement institutions. Both the government and the parliament, as well as other institutions are part of this justice system. We will come up with more proposals, including with lessons learned, in order to improve the situation for the future and avoid such phenomena,’’ Veronica Mihailov-Moraru also said.        
President Maia Sandu today summoned the members Supreme Security Council (CSS) to a meeting. The participants in the event tacked the issue of political corruption. Maia Sandu demanded firmer and quicker actions for the combating of this scourge. The head of state noted that CSS had recommended that the government, along with the parliament and other competent institutions provide the needed framework for the examination, in priority regime and useful terms, of the cases of political corruption and to consolidate the legislation in the national security sector.