The judge in the Laundromat case insists on the return of wages: almost 1 million lei
Sergei Lebedyuk, one of the five judges reinstated after the criminal prosecution in the Laundromat case, appealed the decision of the Appeals Chamber to the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ).
The appeal court overturned the decision to pay him almost a million lei in compensation from the state for the period of suspension of work, writes Anticoruptie. The judges of the trial court in March 2023 granted Lebedyuk’s petition, in which he demanded payment of wages for the period of his removal from office, namely from September 20, 2016 to October 27, 2020.
Thus, the state had to pay the judge material damages in the amount of 998,043.17 lei caused by “illegal actions of the criminal prosecution authorities, the prosecutor’s office and the court,” a decision that is being contested by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. In the decision of the appeal court, it was noted that Lebedyuk was withdrawn from criminal prosecution by order of the prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Mirandolina Sushitskaya.
He was cleared of prosecution only on the charge of facilitating money laundering, but in relation to the charges under Article 307 of the Criminal Code – intentionally making a decision by a judge contrary to the law – there was no formal ruling of his innocence. The case is currently pending before the Appeals Chamber after Lebedyuk was found guilty in 2021 but cleared of criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In September 2022, he appealed to the Appeals Chamber, where only four hearings were scheduled, of which three were adjourned and one adjourned.
Taking into account the six-month break, the case will be resumed in June 2024. The criminal case against Sergei Lebediuc, who along with 14 other judges was accused of involvement in the laundering of approximately $18 billion from the Russian Federation through the judicial system of the Republic of Moldova, was brought to trial in February 2017. The defendants in the case were accused of money laundering on an especially large scale and knowingly making a decision that was contrary to the law, leading to grave consequences. The cases were later divided, and in September 2020, prosecutor Mirandolina Sushitskaya issued a resolution to remove several former judges, including Lebedyuk, from criminal prosecution. In October 2020, the Superior Council of Magistracy granted requests for reinstatement of five judges involved in the Laundromat case.
