Authorities reportedly held Vlad Plahotniuc for almost an hour at Chisinau International Airport, where prosecutors questioned him, according to sources. Officials have not issued any statements.
Law enforcement escorted the former Democratic leader immediately after his extradition from Greece. Outside the airport, a crowd gathered as police and carabiners formed a cordon to maintain security.
Plahotniuc’s lawyer, Lucian Rogac, exited the airport first but declined to address the press. Soon after, masked officers escorted Plahotniuc into a police van. Authorities will transfer him to Penitentiary No. 13, where several police units have mobilized. The Ministry of Justice announced that Plahotniuc will remain in a separate cell, given the high-level public positions he once held.
Later, Rogac issued a statement on social media, accusing the authorities of staging the extradition on the eve of the parliamentary elections. He argued that Plahotniuc returned voluntarily to Moldova to prove his innocence in court, not to evade justice.
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“As mentioned earlier, the General Inspectorate of Police, acting under orders from the political leadership in Chisinau, turned Vlad Plahotniuc’s extradition into a cheap political spectacle staged right before the September 28 parliamentary elections,” Rogac wrote.
He reiterated that Plahotniuc never intended to hide or flee: “He returned home with a single goal — to prove his innocence in court.”
The lawyer accused the PAS government of exploiting the case: “The attempts of the PAS government to portray Plahotniuc’s extradition as its own success look pathetic. The Chisinau authorities not only failed to contribute to his return but even tried to block it, ensuring that the extradition would take place on the eve of the elections. In violation of both national and international law, the authorities turned the extradition into a televised public process. Citizens deserve to know the truth: no one wanted this extradition more than Vlad Plahotniuc himself.”