MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Moscow hopes that Moldovan authorities would observe the rights of the republic’s former president Igor Dodon who has been detained in full, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"We expect all the rights and freedoms guaranteed to Igor Dodon by international law and the Moldovan legislation will be observed," the Russian diplomat said.

Otherwise, the detention risks becoming political score-settling over Dodon’s affiliation with those political forces in Moldova that favor promoting further a positive dialogue with Russia, she warned.

The Russian side will keep an eye on the process, Zakharova said, adding that Moscow regarded the detention of Dodon as Moldova’s internal affair.

"The more politicians get associated with Western liberal values, the more totalitarian they become in dealing with their opponents," the Russian diplomat noted.

The former president of Moldova was detained for 72 hours on Tuesday, and a criminal case has been opened against him over passive corruption, treason and illicit enrichment. Prosecutors have searched his house and other addresses, including the homes of his suspected accomplices.

On Tuesday, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova formerly led by Dodon held a protest in Chisinau, calling the searches a fight against the opposition and a cheap political show. Party members said they had been receiving threats in the country’s provinces daily.