Vlad Filat, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM), was arrested ten years ago—on October 15, 2015—during a parliamentary session. The politician stated that these ten years are not just marked by the date October 15 each year: “They are ten years of my life, difficult years, as I spent 50 months of them, if I may say so, in Penitentiary No. 13. The rest, mostly, I spent under house arrest. I say this because I had health issues for a while, and otherwise I was restricted in my fundamental rights. In this case, I refer to the right to be elected. And I was caught in a multitude of cases initiated during Plahotniuc’s time and, in my view, managed in a very vile manner by those currently in power,” TRIBUNA reports.

Speaking on the online show “Gonța Media,” Filat emphasized that these were ten hard years of life, which, through very concrete events, proved that what he had said—not only on October 15 from the parliamentary podium, but even before—was true.

Filat stated that ten years ago, there was a collective conspiracy against him, aimed at seizing total control of the Republic of Moldova.

“I say it was deliberate, because it wasn’t a spontaneous action—it was carefully prepared, meticulously planned, with clearly defined actors put into motion. On October 15, these actors acted both inside and outside Parliament. I remind you of those protests involving a rather folkloric figure from Moldova, Usatîi. And inside Parliament, it was a vile scenario, because things, as you rightly said, should normally happen transparently, not through secret operations. Yes, that was the goal, and in the end, it was achieved. After my arrest, Plahotniuc took full control of Moldova. As for the gathering of deputies—they had already been assembled. By October 15, Plahotniuc had a comfortable parliamentary majority,” he added.

The PLDM leader also noted that he had received no warning about what was about to happen.

“I felt things were heading in a very, let’s say, personally dangerous direction, but rationally I couldn’t believe it would go that far. Beyond that meeting at the Palace of the Republic, we had a series of meetings on October 14 within the Alliance. I met with Plahotniuc three or four times that day in different formats. We had a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture with all Alliance deputies and ministers, where we set out exactly what we would do the next day. Later, we went to the Democratic Party headquarters and again agreed on the decisions to be taken.

I remind you, we had a very clear understanding that on October 15, we would establish a parliamentary commission to clarify—not to cover up—everything that had happened in the ‘billion theft’ case. For this, at the beginning of the day, before the parliamentary session, the Prosecutor General was supposed to resign, not come to Parliament and request the lifting of immunity. You know, Plahotniuc has no moral boundaries and his mind is criminal. Discussions were held with Mihai Ghimpu, Marian Lupu, Mr. Diacov, and many others. I could not have imagined that things would be handled in such a treacherous and vile manner,” Filat concluded on “Gonța Media.”