Valeriu Pasat heard at Prosecutor's Office

The former Minister of Defense Valeriu Pasat was heard Friday by the prosecutors in two cases – attempt to usurp the state power by trying to murder the PPCD leader Iurie Rosca, and smuggling in weapons, Info-Prim Neo reports. “I'm not guilty. The accusations are groundless and I do not even ask to be defended,” Pasat told the reporters before entering the hearing room. “It would be no wonder if they started a legal cases over the fact tat I stole apples from the school's orchard, when I was in the seventh grade,” Valeriu Pasat said. Asked if he hopes that the situation will change now that the Communists were removed, Valeriu Pasat said he was glad that the administration of the Prosecutor General's Office was replaced, but those who investigate the cases remained in their posts. “Those who said I am guilty will maintain this position,” he said. Valeriu Pasat returned from Moscow to Chisinau on November 2, after the Moldovan authorities decided to renew his passport. Valeriu Pasat was arrested on March 11, 2005. Two of the cases against him, in which he is accused of prejudicing the state by selling military warplanes and rockets, have been examined two times, including at the Supreme Court of Justice. Every time, they were sent back. In July 2009, the Chisinau Court of Appeals examined them for the third time and confirmed again that the former minister was not guilty. The other two cases opened while he was in custody in 2006, in which he is accused of smuggling armament and of attempted coup at the instructions of the Kremlin, were not sent to court.