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Moldova’s former president says he was arrested on trumped-up charges

The police escort did not allow Dodon to talk to the media

Igor Dodon Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Igor Dodon

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

CHISINAU, May 26. /TASS/. Moldova’s former president, Igor Dodon, who was taken to court on Thursday, managed to tell journalists that he had been arrested on trumped-up charges, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.

"It is a political, trumped-up case," Dodon said, when the police escort did not allow him to talk to the media.

His lawyer, Maxim Lebedinsky, stated that this was "a violation of the rights of the accused" and that he would draw the judges’ attention to it.

In the court’s building the journalists were not allowed beyond the foyer. Those who wished to enter the courtroom to take pictures and videos were warned that they would not be let in anymore.

On Thursday, the court is to select a restrictive measure against Dodon. The Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday accused him of committing crimes as defined under article 324 (passive corruption), article 1812 (the financing of a political party recognized as a criminal organization), article 337 (treason) and article 330/2 (illicit enrichment) and demanded his arrest for 30 days. Lawyer Lebedinsky said that Dodon might stay free during the investigation and that he would prove his client’s innocence.

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