Members of the Liberal Party requested to immediately set free the mayor of Ghelauza village of Straseni district Nicoleta Malai from arrest and to investigate her outside remand detention. According to them, the woman has a small child who remained without parental care, IPN reports.

Nicoleta Malai is investigated for rigging tender contests. The Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu told a news conference that the arrest measure imposed on the mayor does not meet the requirements of the European Court of Human Rights. This is too harsh for the offense of which she is accused.

The press reported that Nicoleta Malai was arrested by officers of the National Anticorruption Center after she rejected the Democratic Party’s offer to join the party. In this connection, the Liberal leader called on the EU Ambassador in Chisinau Peter Michalko, U.S. Ambassador James Pettit and the other ambassadors not to tolerate this ‘political cudgel’. The law enforcement agencies are requested to stop fulfilling political orders, to obey the law and not to forget that the rights of a person are more important than the post held by this.

According to Liberal MP Lilian Carp, no one wants interference in the justice sector. “The legal system, which tends to appear independent, is actually strictly controlled by the Democratic Party. What should we do, dear judges, when someone refuses to join the PDM? Jail them. And if they cooperate with the PDM? They can be free and we refer to Ilan Shor here,” he stated.

The mayor of Ghelauza was arrested on November 20, 2017 following searches in a case that concerns the rigging of tender contests with money allocated from the Ecological Fund for implementing local projects.