Where? The Republic of Moldova, a “fast-tracked” EU accession country.

The deputy chairman of the “SHOR” Party, MP Marina Tauber, was detained for 72 hours on May 1st, her birthday. The “present” was administered by the power-controlled police at the Chisinau International Airport. The opposition politician was on her way to Israel for a scheduled medical appointment and was due to return after a few days. The MP informed prosecutors and the court of her intention to leave the country.

In the morning, on May 1st, Marina Tauber announced, in a Facebook live, that she was going to Israel, that she had informed the authorities about this and that she had presented the prosecutors with the round-trip tickets. Moreover, she said she could be detained or arrested. This is because the Sandu-PAS government does not agree with the result of the elections for Gagauzia’s Bashkan, held on April 30th, in which the candidate of the “SHOR” Party, Evghenia Guțul, gained the most votes and is due to participate in the second round. A few moments later, Marina Tauber was, indeed, detained. According to prosecutors, the MP violated the conditions of the preventive measures imposed on her under the Criminal Procedure Code.

On the other hand, Marina Tauber’s lawyers argue that the detention of the MP is illegal, that there was no ban on leaving the country stated on her person and that what happened at the airport was a political order. Moreover, the lawyers say they will file a complaint with the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) on this illegal detention.

“The prosecution is blatantly lying to the public, indicating in its press release that Marina Tauber was under judicial control. Marina Tauber had no restrictions, including the right to leave the country. This false communiqué from the so-called reformed prosecutor’s office shows that a political order has been executed, which has nothing to do with the pursuit of justice in a rule of law, democratic state. And those who executed this illegal order will be held accountable by a fair justice. We are examining the prosecutors’ actions from a criminal point of view and we inform that we will file a complaint to the ECHR on this particular case”, said lawyer Aureliu Colenco.

In this context, the chairman of the “SHOR” Party, Ilan Shor, said that today’s detention of MP Marina Tauber at Chisinau Airport is a vile, despicable and “cheap” action.

Political analysts have drawn attention to several cases of abuse committed by the authorities in the case of Marina Tauber’s detention. According to them, this is a predictable political spectacle, similar to the scenario of the 2021 local elections in Balti, when Tauber was improperly eliminated from the election. Moreover, analysts say, the purpose of holding Tauber back is to discredit the electoral process in Gagauzia and help socialist Grigore Uzun win the second round of elections, which will take place in two weeks.

Political scientist Ian Lisnevschi admits that in the next two weeks the candidate of the “SHOR” Party for the position of Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evghenia Guțul, will be excluded from the electoral race and the “SHOR” Party – outlawed.

“The scenario in Balti Municipality is repeated this time with Marina Tauber, who actively participated in the electoral campaign of Eugenia Guțul, the candidate nominated by the “SHOR” Party, who passed in the second round of elections. All part of the expected political spectacle. The most uncomfortable for the ruling party of the two candidates, Guțul and Uzun, is the candidate from the “SHOR” Party, whose presence in the PAS government will strongly affect not only the rating of the ruling party but also Maia Sandu’s rating. Therefore, we can assume that in the next two weeks scenarios such as the withdrawal of the candidate of the “SHOR” Party from the elections or even the outlawing of the “SHOR” Party and then early parliamentary elections along with the presidential elections are possible”, said Ian Lisnevschi, in an article published on politics.md.

Therewith, political scientist Corneliu Ciurea criticizes journalists in the media controlled by President Maia Sandu and PAS for misinforming that Marina Tauber tried to flee from justice. This is while both Tauber and her lawyers have presented evidence that both the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and the court were informed about the MP’s intention to leave the country for a few days.

“Journalists nibbling on Maia Sandu’s palm write that Marina Tauber was detained during her attempt to flee justice. They fail to see that the detention was made on her birthday after Ms Tauber had justified her departure on valid and authentic medical grounds. They do not notice that the decision was made in a heartless manner by the prosecutor and not by the investigating judge. They ignore the fact that the change in the preventive measure is being made on the very day that the candidate of the “SHOR” Party is entering the second round of the elections in Gagauzia. They do not care that Marina Tauber is a woman or that concerning minors and women, the pre-trial arrest is only applied in particularly serious cases. In other words, they are political scientists”, wrote the political commentator on his Facebook page.

At the moment of publishing this article, MP Marina Tauber is placed under house arrest.

Is Moldova a “rule of law” state ready for EU accession negotiations? Given the above stated facts, one can seriously doubt it.