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Those responsible for the use of torture in the case of Alexandru Bogdan will face imprisonment after the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the appeals of both the defendants and the injured party yesterday.

Thus, the ruling of the Chișinău Court of Appeals from December 1st, 2015 (delivered in full on January 15th, 2016) remains in force. In this ruling, the initial acquittal was overturned and sentences of 4 years of imprisonment (for one defendant) and 3 years of imprisonment (for the other two defendants) were handed down. The Court of Appeals also found that the application of physical force and special methods towards the injured party was neither justified nor proportional.

We repeat that Alexandru Bogdan was subjected to torture by 3 collaborators of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions in August 2013. He was beaten with a rubber baton, kicked and punched. This took place in Penitentiary Number 13.

This is one of the few cases in which a former high-ranking official from the Department of Penitentiary Institutions has been found guilty for acts of torture and will face imprisonment.

We note that the Promo-LEX Association has previously emphasized the need to adjust the legal framework with regard to the application of physical force and special methods in places of detention, and the need to train DPI representatives in this area.

Video material on this case entitled “Tortura în limitele legii” (“Torture within legal limits”) was released by Radio Free Europe as part of the Pur și Simplu (“Pure and Simple”) broadcast. See the link here.

For more details, contact: Carolina Bondarciuc, Promo-LEX Communications Officer: GSM 060280980, Tel./Fax (+373 22) 45-00-24, e-mail: [email protected]