Former Romanian senator Cristian Rizea, convicted in Romania, extradited from Moldova
Cristian Rizea, convicted in Romania, has been declared an undesirable person on the territory of the Republic of Moldova for a period of 15 years, the General Inspectorate for Migration (IGM) announced. The source notes that the foreigner was removed under escort from the national territory. The authorities of the neighbouring country confirm that they have taken him in.
"Declaring a foreigner an undesirable person is a precautionary measure ordered against a foreigner who has carried out, is carrying out or in respect of whom there are serious indications that he intends to carry out activities likely to endanger national security or public order," the IGM points out in a statement.
At the same time, the institution explains that this measure is ordered by the competent authority for foreigners ex officio or at the proposal of other authorities with competence in the field of public order and national security, which have data or solid indications in the sense indicated above.
In the meantime, the Romanian police announce that Rizea has been taken into custody and will be taken to a penitentiary.
"This evening, the Romanian police were requested by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to take over a man, aged 54, against whom the Bucharest Court has issued a warrant for the execution of a prison sentence. He was taken over with the support of the Border Police and is to be placed in a penitentiary," the Romanian police statement said.
Former PSD MP Cristian Rizea was definitively sentenced in 2019 to 4 years and 8 months in prison with execution for influence peddling, money laundering and influencing statements. He took refuge in Chisinau in 2017, a month before being sentenced in the first instance.
Rizea became known to the general public in Moldova in late spring 2021, when he entered politics with the NOI party. Subsequently, he started recording videos and distributing so-called "revelations" on social media, as a result of which he was denounced several times for defamation.
Rizea also registered on 18 October 2021 for the elections in Balti, but the Electoral Council of the Balti Electoral District rejected his candidacy based on a document from the ASP on the withdrawal of Moldovan citizenship. In an interview conducted as part of the investigation, Rizea said that he obtained the citizenship of our country because his grandmother is originally from the village of Congaz, Comrat district, reports anticorupție.md.
On November 3, 2020, former Moldovan President Igor Dodon revoked his citizenship.
Cristian Rizea was a Romanian MP from 2008 to 2016, but in March 2016, a few months before the local elections, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate asked for an opinion on his detention and arrest.
