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On 5 August 2020, by the judgement of Soroca Court (Center office), a former collaborator of the transnistrian militia was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crimes of home invasion, abduction and torture of two residents of Floreşti district.  The court admitted the civil action in its entirety and ordered the collection of 20 000 Euro for non-pecuniary damage for the benefit of the two victims.  This sentence may be appealed to the Bălţi Court of Appeal within 15 days.

We remind you that on the night of 8-9 April 2015, employees of the transnistrian militia abducted a couple from their house, citizens of the Republic of Moldova. They were dragged at night, on the paved road in the village, put in a boat and transported to the left bank of Nistru to the ‘militia commissariat from  Camenca city’. There, the victims were brutally beaten, placed in pre-trial detention and accused of stealing two rabbits.

The ill-treatment lasted for 3 days.  On 12 April 2015, due to the intervention of constitutional authorities, the two inhabitants of Floreşti  district had the opportunity to return home.  The forensic examination, performed after the release of the victims established numerous physical traumas on their bodies, at the same time psycho-emotional consequences were found, as a result of the pressure the victims were subjected to during the illegal detention.  In addition, the two victims had to pass a rehabilitation course at ‘Memory’ Rehabilitation Center for the Victims of Torture, which also released an expert review report in this regard that was taken as evidence in the criminal case.

Until January 2020, the criminal case filed by the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova was suspended because the accused evaded criminal prosecution.  In January 2020, the criminal case was resumed once the constitutional authorities managed to detain one of the accused. On 20 March 2020, the criminal case was registered in the court and examined on the merits, with the motivated sentence pronounced on 5 August 2020.

According to the lawyer of the Promo-LEX Association, Pavel Cazacu: ‘Unfortunately, out of the large number of cases of abduction, ill-treatment and torture committed by representatives of law enforcement agencies in the transnistrian region, this case is among the few, or even the first, to be examined by the court’.   In other cases, victims of abuse cannot find justice because the perpetrators are either not identified or evade prosecution.  Promo LEX Association drew attention to the cases in which groups of the transnistrian militia employees move freely through the localities on the right bank of the Nistru river for so-called investigations of crime.  This case also proves that the constitutional authorities have leverages and opportunities to complete the criminal investigation and can prosecute perpetrators regardless of where they are located.  ‘The case was thoroughly documented and the prosecution’s evidence was effectively administered’.

In this context, Promo-LEX Association repeatedly urges the constitutional authorities to make every effort and diligence to fulfil their positive obligations to bring to justice those who commit illegalities regardless of where they are committed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

For more details, please contact:
Pavel Cazacu,
Lawyer, Promo-LEX Association,
Tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 060045570,
e-mail: [email protected]