EU General Court Annuls Sanctions Listing of Former Moldovan Politician
The EU General Court on Oct. 23 annuled the sanctions listing of Vladimir Gheorghe Plahotniuc a former member of Moldova's Parliament, who was listed for allegedly committing bank fraud and bribing the former president of Moldova in exchange for political favors.
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Although Plahotniuc's conduct satisfied two sanctions designation criteria covering actions that undermine or threaten Moldova's democracy and serious financial misconduct related to public funds, the court said the European Council's wording for the designation made it difficult to say whether the listing is based solely on either one of the two criteria.
The council's "ambiguous wording is liable to give rise to a reasonable doubt as to whether the Council actually relied on the criterion of undermining the democratic political process in the Republic of Moldova vis-à-vis the applicant," the court said. While this doesn't mean the statement of reasons for the designation is "inadequate," it means the court is "bound to consider that the applicant's inclusions on the lists at issue is based solely on the criterion of serious financial misconduct concerning public funds and the unauthorized export of capital," the decision said.
The court then found the council infringed on Plahotniuc's right to a fair trial and to presumed innocence, since the council based the listing decision only on Moldovan authorities' decisions to open investigations on Plahotniuc. The court said the council failed to verify that the decisions complied with the rights to defense and adequate judicial protection.