Former SIS director’s case sent back to prosecutor for resumption of criminal investigation

The judges of the Chisinau Court, Buiucani, have admitted the prosecutor’s motion in the case of former director of the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), Vasile Botnari. The court ordered that the case be returned to the Chisinau Municipal Prosecutor’s Office for the resumption of the criminal investigation. The file concerns the extralegal transfer, in September 2018, of five teachers from Orizont High School to Turkey. For this transfer, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the Convention in Ozdil case and awarded each applicant 25,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages.

According to Promo-LEX, the state prosecutor filed the motion on 22 April 2026. The prosecutor requested the postponement of the examination of the case concerning the abuse of office charge brought against Vasile Botnari and the return of the file for the resumption of the criminal investigation with respect to the persons previously removed from prosecution and for the identification of other participants in the operation, and by a ruling of 15 June this year, the court granted the request.

According to the reasoning, the measure concerns the resumption of the criminal investigation regarding the persons previously removed from prosecution and the identification of co-authors. The court specified that this solution does not reopen discussion on the already established guilt of the former SIS director, which remains final. The prosecutor had requested the return of the file together with the indictment. In order to respect the principle of legal certainty and protection against double jeopardy, the court returned the file without the indictment. The ruling cannot be appealed separately, but may be challenged together with the final judgment.

“In the case of Ozdil and others, which became final on 11 September 2019, the Strasbourg Court found a breach of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) and of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention. The Court held that the deprivation of liberty of the applicants on 6 September 2018 was neither lawful nor necessary. The operation was organised in such a way that the five applicants were taken by surprise and had no possibility to defend themselves. Their handover to the Turkish authorities circumvented the safeguards provided by domestic and international law. The Court also found that the national courts had refused to examine the applicants’ actions against the decisions rejecting their asylum applications and declaring them undesirable persons,” Promo-LEX stated.

On 15 July 2020, the Chisinau Court convicted Vasile Botnari for abuse of office, imposing a fine of 88,000 lei and a ban on holding public office for five years. The prosecutor did not appeal this judgment. The wife of one of the applicants, Galina Tüfekçi, challenged the judgment and the order of 16 January 2020 which had withdrawn her status as an injured party.

On 16 February 2023, the Chisinau Court of Appeal declared null and void the order withdrawing Galina Tüfekçi’s status as an injured party and remitted the case to the Prosecutor’s Office to remedy the identified violations. On 19 November 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice upheld Galina Tüfekçi’s appeal in the part concerning the rejection of her appeal, reconfirmed her status as an injured party and ordered a retrial of the case regarding the individualisation of the sentence. On 10 July 2025, the court suspended the examination of the case following an exception of unconstitutionality raised by Vasile Botnari. On 5 December 2025, the Constitutional Court declared the exception inadmissible. On 23 February 2026, the Central Court of Appeal upheld the appeal of Galina Tüfekçi, partially quashed the 2020 judgment in its criminal part and ordered the retrial of the case in the court of first instance regarding the individualisation of the sentence and the civil limb.

“The General Prosecutor’s Office initiated, in February 2022, the investigation into the involvement of other high-ranking officials in the transfer of the applicants. The investigation is still ongoing. According to the information submitted to the Committee of Ministers, the investigation identified high-ranking officials who acted both in favour of and against the transfer process. In 2025, the Prosecutor’s Office recognised the applicants Sedat Hasan Karacaoğlu, Mehmet Tüfekçi and Müjdat Çelebi as injured parties. In the communication addressed to the Committee of Ministers on 26 January 2026, Promo-LEX and the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova drew attention to the length of the investigation and to the fact that no indictments had been brought. The same organisations signalled the risk of the limitation period expiring,” Promo-LEX underlined.

The Promo-LEX Association represents the interests of the Tüfekçi family in the criminal proceedings and monitors the execution of the European Court’s judgment. The organisation has taken note of the return of the file to the prosecutor.

“The Tüfekçi family has been demanding for years that those responsible for the extralegal transfer be held accountable, and the resumption of the criminal investigation may bring this objective closer. The court’s decision opens a path for the investigation to move forward against persons previously removed from prosecution and against other possible participants. We expect the criminal investigation to produce concrete results within the limitation period, so that all those responsible, including high-level decision-makers, are held accountable in proportion to the gravity of the violations found by the European Court of Human Rights. We call on the state authorities to fully execute, and within the set timeframe, the decision of the Committee of Ministers, while respecting judicial independence,” said Vadim Vieru, lawyer with the Promo-LEX Association and representative of the injured party in this case.

The Association adds that, under Article 46 of the Convention, the state is obliged to execute the judgment of the European Court, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers.

“At its March 2026 meeting, the Committee adopted a new decision in this case. The Committee invited the authorities to finalise the criminal proceedings against the former SIS director without further delay and to inform it of the outcome. It also invited the authorities to accelerate the investigation into the high-ranking officials and to present the results obtained. The Committee requested the adoption of the regulations of the parliamentary subcommittee for SIS oversight and the continuation of diplomatic efforts regarding the situation of the applicant Yasin Özdil, who remains detained in Turkey. Likewise, the Committee once again invited the authorities to send, from the highest political level, a clear message regarding the inadmissibility of arbitrary detentions and extralegal transfers. The deadline set for the submission of updated information is 12 September 2026,” Promo-LEX specified.

With regard to the other four applicants, the authorities confirmed that Riza Doğan, Mehmet Tüfekçi and Müjdat Çelebi were granted refugee status on 27 December 2023, while Sedat Hasan Karacaoğlu obtained the right of permanent residence on 9 April 2025.

“They cross the border of the Republic of Moldova without restrictions. For Yasin Özdil, the situation remains unresolved. According to the authorities, the transfer of the execution of his sentence can be initiated only at his request or at the request of his relatives and requires the consent of both states. Also according to the authorities, a form of protection cannot be granted in his absence, since an asylum application must be lodged on the territory of the Republic of Moldova or at the border. Promo-LEX and the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova have asked the authorities to identify solutions that would allow his return and the granting of a form of protection,” Promo-LEX noted.

As a measure to prevent similar abuses, Parliament adopted in 2023 a new Law on the Intelligence and Security Service and a Law on Counterintelligence and Foreign Intelligence Activity. The framework provides a four-level control mechanism over SIS activities and introduces safeguards against arbitrariness, including ex post judicial review of measures and special rules for measures targeting lawyers and journalists. The regulations of the parliamentary subcommittee for SIS oversight are being drafted. The Committee of Ministers has invited the authorities to adopt them and to inform it about their content and implementation.

Promo-LEX and the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova have also pointed out that two documents in the criminal file against the former SIS director remain classified. The authorities replied that access to these materials is possible through the procedure for obtaining the right of access to state secrets. According to them, the documents concern SIS tactics and working methods, and national courts have access to them.