Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon has been detained for 72 hours while police conduct a major raid on his home in the capital, Chisinau, Eastern European media reported.
Dudon, who heads the Socialist Party, the country's largest opposition party, is suspected of receiving a large bribe from a pro-Russian parliamentarian named Vladimir Pelhutnyuk.
Dudon was documented in the video refusing to take a bag full of bribe money but instructing the MP to give it to one of his aides.
Dudon is considered an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and lost the 2020 election to incumbent President Maya Sando, who was elected under promises of rapprochement with the West and distance from Russia and the style of Russian government.
Cousin favors rapprochement with Russia, rejection of the Romanian language and distance from the EU.
Moldova has recently made headlines after a series of explosions in the separatist republic of Transnistria, which houses thousands of Russian troops and borders Ukraine.
Although the republic is located on the sovereign territory of Moldova, it is being run as a drag by Russia and in Chisinau there is concern that Russia intends to use the rebel province to attack the territory of Ukraine.
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