5.  The applicant was born in 1979 and lives in Chisinau.
6.  In January 2008 the Balti police organised an undercover operation with the purpose of apprehending a criminal group specialised in the production and circulation of forged documents. For that purpose an advertisement was placed in a local newspaper specialised in advertising, stating as follows: “Need help with obtaining passport (Romanian-Bulgarian)” followed by a telephone number.
7.  According to the applicant, at that time he was interested in leaving Moldova for Romania or another country in the European Union in order to find a job. He was therefore interested in obtaining a Romanian passport which would facilitate his plans. Since he understood the newspaper advertisement as proposing assistance with obtaining Romanian passports, he called the number from it and met a person who introduced himself as E. During their conversation he understood that E. was himself looking for a Romanian passport. Both men agreed to let each other know in the event that one of them found an easy way of obtaining a Romanian passport.
8.  Some time later a friend of the applicant (D.) recommended to him a person called Z. who could help obtain a Romanian passport in a short time. Both D. and Z. confirmed during the subsequent court proceedings that it was D. who had recommended Z. to the applicant in March 2008. The applicant met Z. and found out that his services cost 1,500 euros (EUR), a sum of money which he did not possess at the time.
9.  It appears from the materials of the case-file that approximately three weeks after the applicant’s first meeting with E., the latter called him to find out whether he had progressed in his search for a way of obtaining a Romanian passport. This was submitted by the applicant in the proceedings and not contested by the prosecution. The applicant informed E. that he had found a person, Z., who could help in exchange for EUR 1,500 and proposed to put E. in contact with Z. However, E. refused to get into direct contact with Z. and informed the applicant that he did not have the money at the time. He also told the applicant that he had an acquaintance T. who was also interested in obtaining a Romanian passport and proposed a deal to the applicant. In particular, he proposed to him to act as an intermediary between Z. and T. and tell T. that the price was EUR 2,300. The difference of EUR 800 between the price asked by Z. and the sum paid by T. was to be split between the applicant and E. This information was not contested by the prosecution during the proceedings. The applicant accepted E.’s proposal and agreed to arrange a meeting with T.
10.  The applicant then discussed the matter with Z., who gave him a list of documents necessary for T.’s new Romanian identity card. The applicant submitted during the proceedings that he had been convinced at the time that the identity card was not going to be forged and that Z. would only act as a representative of T. before the Romanian authorities. This information was contested by Z. during proceedings, who stated that he had informed the applicant from the very beginning that T.’s Romanian identity card was going to be false and that he was to avoid travelling to Romania with it.
11.  On 3 April 2008 the applicant met with T. and obtained from him the necessary documents and an advance of EUR 750 for which he had written and submitted to T. a receipt. He then transmitted the money and the documents to Z. The identity card was later produced in the United Kingdom and reached Z. and then the applicant by the middle of April 2008. On 16 April 2008 the applicant met with T. and gave him the identity card in exchange for the rest of the money. He was then arrested by the police.
12.  On 17 April 2008 an official criminal investigation was initiated against the applicant on charges of manufacturing and trading with forged official documents.
13.  In the meantime, Z. signed an agreement with the prosecutors acknowledging his guilt and was convicted on the basis of that agreement and given a suspended sentence of four years.
14.  During the criminal proceedings the applicant argued inter alia that he had been entrapped by E. and T. and requested that they be heard in court. The court of first instance refused to hear E. and T. and referred to the fact that the law governing undercover operations made it possible to hear undercover officers in court only if they consented to that.
15.  On 17 December 2008 the Balti District Court found the applicant guilty of participating in the production of a false Romanian identity card and of selling it to T. The court sentenced him to a criminal fine of some EUR 200. The judgment did not make any mention of the applicant’s assertion concerning incitement.
16.  The applicant lodged an appeal in which he submitted inter alia that the first instance court had not paid attention to the fact that the offence had been committed as a result of police incitement and that the court had refused to hear the persons who had entrapped him.
17.  During the appeal proceedings, the applicant asked again that E. and T. be heard in court. Initially the Court of Appeal agreed to hear them; however, later it decided otherwise.
18.  On 4 March 2009 the Balti Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and confirmed the judgment of the first instance court. The court examined the applicant’s argument concerning entrapment and dismissed it on the sole ground that it was the applicant who had first telephoned the number indicated in the newspaper advertisement. In so far as the issue concerning the hearing of E. and T. was concerned, the court considered that that was not important as their statements had not been used against the applicant. Moreover, according to the law, they could not be heard unless they agreed to that. The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law and submitted the same arguments as in his appeal.
19.  On 8 July 2009 the Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the applicant’s appeal on points of law and upheld the previous judgments.