Moldova outlaws pro-Russian opposition party

The party has links with the Kremlin and is accused of trying to topple the government, and its leader is on the run.

By Caravanserai and AFP

2023-06-20

Șor Party MP Marina Tauber (left) listens as Moldovan Constitutional Court President Judge Nicolae Rosca (centre) reads the decision of the Court to outlaw the opposition party, in Chisinau on June 19 [Elena Covalenco/AFP]

CHISINAU -- Moldova's constitutional court on Monday (June 19) outlawed the opposition party of fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, whom the pro-European government accuses of trying to topple it.

The decision comes after Chisinau -- which says the party is acting against the country's national interest -- asked the court to rule on its constitutionality.

In recent months, the Șor party staged several anti-government demonstrations in the capital Chisinau and other cities across the country, blaming President Maia Sandu for high electricity bills and accusing her of trying to drag Moldova into the war in Ukraine.

The authorities in Chisinau argue the protests are part of a Russian plot to overthrow the current government and replace it with a Kremlin-friendly one.

Supporters of the Șor party gather to protest outside the Constitutional Court of Moldova as it rules on the opposition party's consitutionality, in Chisinau on June 19. [Elena Covalenco/AFP]

Since 1992, Russia has kept Moldova on its back foot by stationing troops in a separatist Moldovan region called Transnistria.

In its decision on Monday, the court sided with Chisinau's arguments.

"The Șor political party is declared unconstitutional... From the date of pronouncement of this judgement, it shall be considered dissolved," the court announced.

The Șor party's five lawmakers may continue to represent their constituents but will be unaffiliated in the 110-seat parliament, the court added.

The party will challenge the decision at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, party lawyer Aureliu Colenco told reporters.

"This is an abusive and criminal decision," he said.

Sandu welcomed the court's verdict.

Democratic aspirations

"It's a decision awaited by society because Moldovans appreciate and want to live in a democratic state ruled by the law, where criminal organisations are not protected, but prevented from capturing the state," Sandu wrote on Facebook.

In March, ahead of a Shor-organised rally, police arrested members of a network suspected of being orchestrated by Moscow in a bid to destabilise the small ex-Soviet nation.

An appeals court sentenced party founder Shor in April to 15 years in prison for money laundering, fraud and abuse of confidence.

Shor, 36, fled to Israel in 2019, and Moldovan authorities have been trying to have him extradited since.

Last October, the United States imposed sanctions on Shor and several other Moldovan citizens for corruption or allegedly working with Russia to undermine Moldova's democracy.