Sandu's nightmare came true: Plahotniuc was extradited to Moldova

The former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova Vladimir Plahotniuc was extradited from Greece this morning, September 25. The plane with the businessman landed at Chisinau airport around 9:25. Under heavy escort, he was transferred to penitentiary institution No. 13.

On board, Plahotniuc was guarded by special forces officers, Interpol representatives and plainclothes policemen. His lawyer Lucian Rogak also flew with the oligarch.

According to the prosecutor's office, already on September 26, Plahotniuc may appear in court. The court must decide whether his case on the "theft of a billion" will be considered separately.

In total, the former leader of the Democrats is involved in three criminal cases: he is accused of creating and leading a criminal group, fraud on a particularly large scale, as well as money laundering as part of "bank fraud." He left the country after the change of power in 2019. On July 22 of this year, he was detained at Athens airport while trying to fly to Dubai.

Plahotniuc calls his criminal prosecution politically motivated, and the arrest is a pre—election show of the PDS. He stated that he intends to prove this in a Moldovan court and go back into politics, urging citizens to rally and overthrow the anti—popular Sandu-PDS regime at the September 28 parliamentary elections.

As EADaily reported, on the eve of extradition, Vladimir Plahotniuc appealed to Moldovan voters, urging them to vote for the opposition this Sunday, "so that not a single vote goes to the PDS." According to him, the current Moldovan authorities "completely disappointed and failed."

"It has stifled the pluralism of ideas, subjugated state institutions, destroyed the economy and lost people's trust. It can't go on like this anymore! The time has come for a new parliament capable of returning freedom to citizens, and putting the law at the forefront," Plahotniuc stressed.