KYIV (Reuters) – Moldovan investigators are searching the home of former President Igor Dodon in his presence as part of a probe into corruption and treason, but Dodon, now the opposition leader, has not been detained, a party official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Socialist Party Deputy chairman Vlad Batrincea had earlier said at a briefing that Dodon, leader of the pro-Russian party, had been detained.
The Kremlin said it was concerned at media reports that Dodon had been detained, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling on the Moldovan authorities to respect his rights.
The searches were related to an investigation into corruption and treason among other charges, Russia’s Interfax and RIA news agencies quoted a prosecutor as saying. The prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Batrincea said he believed the actions of the investigators were politically motivated move by authorities loyal to pro-Western President Maia Sandu, who replaced Dodon as president in 2020.
“This is a dangerous game, those who go against the opposition want to provoke destabilisation,” Batrincea said at a briefing.
A representative of Sandu, who is currently in the United States to celebrate her 50th birthday, did not respond to a request for comment.
Moldova’s acting Prosecutor General Dumitru Robu was quoted by local media outlet Deschide.MD as saying that Dodon had been detained for 72 hours.
But the same official was later quoted by Russian news agency RIA as saying that while searched of premises related to Dodon were ongoing, that he had not yet been detained.
The prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas and Max Hunder; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
