Bucharest Court of Appeal prolongs detention of Alexandru Bălan, suspected of spying for the Belarusian KGB
Former deputy director of the SIS, Alexandru Bălan, was detained in Romania on charges of treason for allegedly passing secret information to the KGB in Belarus. He will remain in pre-trial detention for an additional 30 days, until December 8. This decision was made by the Bucharest Court of Appeal at the request of prosecutors to mitigate any risks to the ongoing criminal investigation. If convicted, Bălan could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Alexandru Bălan was detained on September 8 in Timișoara by Romanian prosecutors, who accuse him of disclosing secret state information related to Romania to KGB officers in Belarus. After being questioned by prosecutors, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered Bălan to be placed in preventive detention, a measure that has been extended three times so far.
According to the investigation, Alexandru Bălan, who holds dual citizenship in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, allegedly met twice in Budapest with officers from the Belarusian intelligence services, during which he was reportedly compensated and given further instructions. These meetings are said to have occurred in 2024 and earlier this year. Bălan denies the charges and pleads not guilty.
His detention was made possible through collaboration between Romanian prosecutors, the Romanian Intelligence Service, and authorities from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and the Republic of Moldova. Bălan was appointed deputy director of the Intelligence and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova in 2016, a position he held until 2018. He has previously been investigated in connection with the repression of the 2009 protests, according to Ziarul de Garda.
