ECHR Rules that Stoianoglo Was Dismissed with Violation of Rights

Moldova will have to pay former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo 3,600 euros as compensation for moral damage. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made the ruling on Tuesday, 24 October. The ECHR unanimously found that there had been a violation of Article 6, paragraph 1 (right to access to justice) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the inability of the Prosecutor General to appeal against his removal from office, which was caused by the criminal case against him. The former prosecutor general was appointed in November 2019 following an open competition and was removed from office on 5 October 2021, when the High Council of Prosecutors (HCP) allowed him to be criminally prosecuted for malpractice, corrupt passivity, false statements and abuse of office. Three of these cases have already reached the court. Stoianoglo pleads not guilty and claims that his cases were fabricated by the PAS government and Maia Sandu. He has filed two complaints with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming that he was illegally detained and suspended. At the end of September, President Maia Sandu signed a decree on the resignation of Alexandru Stoianoglo from the post of Prosecutor General, following a proposal from the ECJ, filed back in May 2022. On Monday, 23 October, one day before the publication of the ECtHR ruling, the Supreme Council of Prosecutors announced a new competition for the position of Prosecutor General of Moldova. Candidates can submit their applications until 22 November.