At the beginning of December, a French court sentenced former Prime Minister Vlad Filat in absentia to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros for alleged money laundering in a corruption-related case, agrepres.ro reports, citing AFP.

Vlad Filat reacted by stating that “the decision issued by the French court in the case regarding the division of assets after my 2012 divorce is politically motivated and strongly influenced from the Republic of Moldova. The requests sent to the French authorities were exaggerated and lacked legal basis, which led to an unprecedented ruling in French jurisprudence, surprising both lawyers and the parties involved.”

He added that he considers his involvement in the case unjustified: “The case concerns solely the purchase of a property in France, and the continuation of proceedings in French courts is based on false testimony.”

Filat also noted that it is surprising that the Republic of Moldova joined the case as a party and requested 18 million euros in damages, given that the case had previously been closed in Moldova.

The politician announced that he has filed an appeal against the ruling. “I am confident that truth and legality will prevail, and that procedural abuse and political interference will be properly sanctioned”, he concluded.