Prosecution has appealed the judgment of the lower court in the so-called “ambulances' case”, which involves ex-mayor of Chisinau and current Moldova Noastra Alliance (AMN) Party leader Serafim Urecheanu. The Chisinau Court of Appeals was due on Monday, September 8, to hold the first hearing, but the court adjourned until October 13 because the representative for the Chisinau City Hall failed to appear. In a press release, the AMN says that, in a strange coincidence, Serafim Urecheanu was summoned to appear before the Appeals Court exactly at the hour when the Parliament was receiving guests from the Council of Europe, who came to Moldova to take stock of the state of democracy in our country. “One of the cases best illustrating the way in which the Communist government uses the judiciary on its political rivals is the case against Serafim Urecheanu, fabricated following the infamous order by President Voronin “Prepare the execution!”. The judicial harassment started ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2005, was exploited politically and protracted, amplified during the campaign for the local polls in 2007, and now resumed ahead of the 2009 parliamentary elections”, the press release reads. The AMN leader was acquitted on all charges in the ambulances' case on May 26 by the Centru District Court. The acquittal verdict, read by the chair of the panel Judge Constantin Uratu, stated that Urecheanu was cleared of the charges brought against him on grounds that his actions haven't met the constituent elements of a crime. Upon exiting the courtroom, the ex-mayor told reporters that the case originated on 30 July 2004 by order of Vladimir Voronin, who instructed his enforcers to 'execute' him and his colleagues at the City Hall. Until the end of the year the European Court is due to examine the case of Urecheanu v. Moldova, lodged with ECHR in 2006 after a domestic court chaired by Judge Nadejda Mazur, for the first time in the history of independent Moldova, challenged the decision of the Supreme Court to end proceedings against Urecheanu and prolonged the case.