Chisinau, Moldova
A Moldovan court this week absolved a former defense minister of bilking Moldova of money by selling jets too cheaply to the United States. Valery Pasat was jailed for 10 years in January for approving the 1998 sale of 21 MiG-29 planes for $40 million. Prosecutors said Iran would have paid more than $90 million for the planes. But the defense argued that the U.S. had put pressure on Moldova not to sell to Iran, and the appeals court ruled that Pasat was not to blame. He will still serve a five-year sentence for another questionable defense contract. Pasat says he is being scapegoated because of his opposition to current President Vladimir Voronin, a communist.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
