Moldovan opposition leader Usatii detained for illegal phone tapping - Security Service
CHISINAU. Oct 23 (Interfax) - Renato Usatii, the leader of the Moldovan opposition Our Party, has been detained for 72 hours on charges of illegal telephone tapping, the Moldovan Information and Security Service told Interfax.
Usatii was apprehended on Friday evening at the Chisinau airport upon arriving there from Moscow.
Usatii had left Chisinau on October 21 after posting online more than 15 records of tapped telephone conversations between former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, who is now being held under arrest, and businessman Ilan Shor. The records were apparently intended to prove indirectly that the two had been involved in corruption.
While leaving Chisinau, Usatii had said to journalists that the Moldovan Prosecutor General's Office and special services were preparing to arrest him. For the same reason, he postponed his return to Chisinau several times.
The fact that Usatii was detained at the airport in the presence of his lawyer Ana Ursachi indicates that he was aware of facing detention.
Usatii had told Interfax on October 20 that he had known that tapping telephone conversations was illegal but insisted that he "resorted to this in order to prove that Shor and Filat are accomplices in crimes."
"All politicians, including those who voted for depriving Filat of parliamentary immunity, are mired in corruption," he added.
Usatii said he also possessed records of conversations of other politicians, including Vlad Plahotniuc, Iurie Leanca, Valeriu Strelet, Mihai Ghimpu, and others, which he said he would make public when the moment is right.
