Popşoi: The Authorities Did Not Request from the USA Plahotniuc’s Extradition

The Action and Solidarity Party’s MP Mihai Popşoi informed that the Moldovan authorities have not filed a single application to extradition of the former democratic leader Vladimir Plahotniuc. Moreover, the case the former PDM chairman features in is not settled. The deputy believes, however, that Vladimir Plahotniuc will be forced to leave the territory of the United States of America, where he is currently located, ipn.md reports. “The prosecutor’s office faces internal fights. Some prosecutors who have started certain cases leave, others come. We don’t know what they are trying to do there,” the deputy explained while the broadcast of Secretele puterii (Power’s Secrets) on Jurnal TV. According to him, if a request for extradition is received, this statement will most likely be appealed to the courts of the United States of America, because that’s what the procedure provides for. “I am inclined to think that Plahotniuc will rather be forced to leave the USA at the moment he is denied in granting political asylum. After all, we know that he sought political asylum in the United States. Since this application will be rejected without a visa to reside in the USA, Plahotniuc will be forced to leave this country,” the MP said. Public policy expert Ștefan Gligor affirms that extradition is carried out at the request of the state in whose territory the crime was committed by the person concerned. “Vladimir Plahotniuc committed a crime imputed by the prosecutor’s office on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. He is accused of money laundering. It can be extradited on the basis of a court decision, on the basis of which extradition is requested from the foreign state in whose territory it was localized. Extradition is claimed after a person is put on the international wanted list, localized and, as soon as he is localized, the authorities, knowing which state he is in, file a petition for extradition,” the expert said. According to him, at present the authorities have not announced that they have localized Vladimir Plahotniuc in order to issue extradition documents.