SIS: Several people from the Republic of Moldova and a third country are being investigated for treason and espionage
The Intelligence and Security Service, jointly with the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), investigates a network involving the citizens of Moldova and another state in actions of treason and espionage.
There are five persons under investigation - citizens of the Republic of Moldova, two of whom were detained and placed in custody in December 2022, and the other three persons have suspect status.
According to the SIS, they were co-opted by members of the special services from a third country, with the role of assisting them, a role described in the Criminal Code as actions related to "carrying out hostile activity against the Republic of Moldova" - including actions of destabilization and change of the constitutional order in the state, through violence.
According to the criminal law, acts of treason are punishable by imprisonment from 12 to 20 years.
"Additionally, based on the accumulated evidence, the law enforcement officers are also targeting citizens of another state, investigated for espionage, who directed and financed the subversive activities of people from Moldova. The criminal code establishes for these acts the prison sentence for a term of 12 to 20 years", reads the SIS press release.
The source also notes that actions are being investigated starting in 2020 - both planned and partially implemented actions - related to facilitating financial transfers, inciting inter-ethnic hatred, animating destabilizing spirits and intolerance towards certain categories of citizens, including recruiting people to participate in protests en masse, likely to degenerate into acts of violence in the interest of a foreign state.
