A court hearing in the case of Chisinau Mayor Dorin Cirtoaca has been postponed until Monday for reasons remaining unknown, IPN reports.

The court was supposed to hear two defense requests for review: one challenging the removal of the lawyers Tatiana Iovu and Gheorghe Malic, and another challenging the initiation of criminal proceedings.

Prosecutor Dumitru Robu told reporters he didn’t know the reasons why the hearing was postponed. He reiterated the argument that the lawyers had been removed for obstructing the investigation.

Dorin Chirtoaca maintained that the two lawyers were removed illegally: the prosecution cannot veto an attorney of the client’s choice.

As concerns the second petition, Dorin Chirtoaca said the decision to initiate criminal proceedings against him, dated September 2015, contained words in the future tense. “You cannot start a criminal case if the criminal act is not done yet, if the crime is not perpetrated. Only after the crime is committed can you start a criminal case. Or if you know that a crime is going to be committed, you stage an operation to catch the perpetrator in the act...”, argued Chirtoaca, adding “...or you prevent the crime from being committed”. 

Dorin Chirtoaca was arrested on May 25 in a case concerning parking spaces to be operated as part of what seemed to be an illegal scheme. Two days later he was placed under house arrest. The mayor has been charged with accepting bribes and influencing decisions for undue gains. Dorin Chirtoaca pleads not guilty.