Written declaration No. 703 | Doc. 15059 | 30 January 2020

Support for Moldovan Parliament’s initiatives in restoring the rule of law

Signatories: Mr Roberto RAMPI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr David BAKRADZE, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Vlad BATRINCEA, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Ms Larysa BILOZIR, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Maurizio BUCCARELLA, Italy, NR ; Mr Corneliu Mugurel COZMANCIUC, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Yuriy KAMELCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Kimmo KILJUNEN, Finland, SOC ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Ms Barbara NOWACKA, Poland, NR ; Mr Hişyar ÖZSOY, Turkey, UEL ; Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Mihail POPSOI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Tommy SHEPPARD, United Kingdom, NR ; Mr Serhii SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Jiři VALENTA, Czech Republic, UEL ; Mr Gaik VARTANEAN, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Ms Lesia VASYLENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Liviu VOVC, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Yelyzaveta YASKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We welcome the legislative initiative registered in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova concerning the ending of all politically motivated cases. We call upon the Moldovan Parliament to take into account the importance of the following written Declarations: Nos. 14926 of 27 July 2019, 14819 of 24 January 2019, 14649 of 11 October 2018, 14379 second edition of 20 October 2017, as well as the report of the Parliamentary Assembly on the functioning of democratic institutions in the Republic of Moldova of 3 October 2019.

We emphasise the urgent need to stop any and all criminal proceedings which have been brought unlawfully and abusively –whether by means of fabricated accusations or through the selective use and abuse of the criminal justice system– often against political opponents and their lawyers.

We reiterate the importance of fighting impunity and bringing those responsible for human rights abuses to justice.

We welcome the decision of several States to ban the fugitive oligarch Plahotniuc from entering their jurisdictions due to his involvement in corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law in the Republic of Moldova.

We stress that the strongest possible sanctions should be applied to any or all individuals who compromised the independence of democratic institutions in the Republic of Moldova.