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On July 26, 2018, Promo-LEX Association organized a press conference entitled “Criminal Justice System Kills People”, whereby lawyers of the Association brought to the public attention the situation of Serghei Cosovan, who is currently held in Penitentiary no. 16, being in an extremely grave condition. The lawyers also spoke of unskilled medical assistance provided in detention, as well as of the fact that there is yet no reaction to the Appeals submitted to the relevant authorities by both Promo-LEX and other international organizations.

Despite the Press Conference on the Case of Cosovan, organized by Promo-LEX Association on April 20, 2018, the Appeal filed by Amnesty International, the Appeal filed by the World Organization Against Torture, the concerns shared by the People’s Advocate (Ombudsman) etc., the responsible authorities have not come up with any reaction.

“According to the international experts and recommendations of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, there should be no parallel public health systems in a country. In the case of complex illnesses, such as we witness in Cosovan’s case, detainees must benefit from the full volume of qualified healthcare that cannot be provided by the medical service within the Moldovan penitentiary system,” Nicoleta Hriplivii, lawyer of Promo-LEX said.

Promo-LEX lawyers claim that medical service in the penitentiary system is not an independent one, it is not verified by the Ministry of Health, it does not exactly follow the clinical protocols, and therefore, will continue to generate human victims.

“However, we hope, that the authorities will hear us and develop policies to stop the process of abusive application of pre-trial detention at the request of prosecutors,“ Vadim Vieru, lawyer of Promo-LEX Association said.

Yesterday, 25 July, Promo-LEX sent its observations to the European Court of Human Rights, after on  March 29 this year, the Court urged Serghei Cosovan’s complaint filed by Promo-LEX on March 20, 2018.

Promo-LEX urges the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the competent authorities, to undertake the following individual and general measures:

• Emergency transfer of citizen Serghei Cosovan to a public medical institution, specializing in treatment of severe liver diseases and liver transplantation to ensure him the necessary medical assistance;
• Immediate implementation of measures, designed to reduce the high rate of excessive and unjustified application of pre-trial detention in the Republic of Moldova;
• Implementation of the recommendations made by the UN Committee Against Torture in 2017 on the transfer of medical units subordinated to the Department of Penitentiary Institutions (National Administration of Penitentiaries) to the subordination of Ministry of Health;
• Implementation of the recommendations made by the Council for the Prevention of Torture in 2018 by ensuring the independence of medical staff in all places of detention; by transferring responsibility for the detainees’ health to the Ministry of Health in order to ensure an independent medical examination;
• Providing detainees with access to quality medical services equivalent to those available in the public medical system.

For further information, please contact:
Axenia Chirilov, Promo-LEX Association Press Officer
GSM: 060 16 83 14
E-mail: [email protected]

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