Irina Vlah, leader of the Republican Party “Inima Moldovei,” provided details about the hearing at the Court of Appeal on November 28, when the case initiated by the Ministry of Justice — seeking to restrict the party’s activity for 12 months — was examined.

The politician wrote that, during the hearing, the court rejected the party’s request to annul the temporary restriction, even though the law does not permit maintaining such a measure.

“According to the law: the temporary restriction is valid only during the examination of the case; the law sets a strict two-month deadline for examination; this deadline expired on November 25, while the case is far from being finalized. Moreover, even within the questionable logic of the norms under which the temporary restrictions were imposed, maintaining them has no justification. In court, the authorities did not present any evidence to support their suspicions. They even admitted that their ‘arguments’ regarding our alleged illegal financing refer to the year 2024 — that is, a period prior to the creation of the party and before the new law came into force.

In other words, we are being subjected to restrictions based on suspicions that are not only unconfirmed, but legally cannot be connected to ‘Inima Moldovei’. Despite this obvious fact, the court maintained the restrictions, gravely violating our right to freedom of expression and to lawful political activity,” said Irina Vlah.

She also declared that the court partially admitted the request to forward to the Constitutional Court the demand to verify the constitutionality of the contested provisions of the Law on Political Parties.

“These provisions allow limiting the activity of a party without evidence, solely on the basis of suspicions, and must be checked against the Constitution. In parallel, we requested an expert review of the Law on Political Parties from the Venice Commission. We maintain constant communication with international partners and inform the diplomatic corps about all stages of the process. The abuses in the case of ‘Inima Moldovei’ represent a real risk of undermining democratic norms and legitimizing the usurpation of power in our country,” emphasized Irina Vlah.