Since the proclamation of its independence, Moldova has paid about €14 million in damages to persons who filed lawsuits at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In 2001 – 2011, there had been passed over 200 decisions against the Moldovan state. Moldova is thus among the top seven countries that were convicted by the ECHR in the largest number of cases.

Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the head of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Stefan Uritu said that most of the cases lost by Moldova concerned the violation of the right to a fair trial and the right to property. The highest number of decisions were pronounced until 2005, when there were tribunals.

According to Stefan Uritu, Moldova was often convicted by the ECHR because it is still in a period of transition. “Regretfully, there are many exaggerated delimitations. There are gaps between the powers of two institutions that cannot be filled. The people can endlessly seek justice in the national courts and thus decide to go to the ECHR,” he stated.

He also said that a new law has been adopted in Moldova this year. It envisions voluntary admission of the commission of violations. The persons who appealed to the ECHR are suggested to withdraw their applications and resume the trial in Moldova. Stefan Uratu considers the law should have come into force after the reformation of the justice sector. “Moldova must analyze all the aspects and implement the justice reform in accordance with the previous practices and experience,” he said.

The head of the Association “Promo-LEX” Ion Manole said that the ECHR convicted Moldova in three cases concerning the Transnistrian region – two in the case of Ilie Ilascu and one in the case of the schools teaching on the basis of the Latin script. In the case of the schools, the ECHR passed an admissibility conviction and a decision convicting Moldova may be pronounced in the first half of next year.

Ion Manole said that it is normal for Moldova to be convicted by the ECHR. Any country, even the most democratic one, commits violations of human rights. On the other hand, the people are tired of this transition that has lasted since the 1990s.

The largest damages, of €2.5 million, were paid by Moldova in the case of Oferta Plus in 2008, for violating the right to property and the right to a fair trial.

According to the Court’s report, 3,850 cases against Moldova were pending on January 1, 2011.

Sursa: Info-prim.md

A lawyer for a man jailed for spying in Moldova’s separatist Transdniester region said his client’s surprise release may be due to international pressure on breakaway entity’s leaders and calls by rights activists, RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service reports.

But lawyer Ion Manole cautioned against any public comments that might endanger Ilie Cazac, who lives in the Transdniester town of Bender.

A former Moldovan tax inspector, Cazac was detained in March 2010 and accused of high treason and espionage on behalf of Moldova.

In February, a court in Transdniester sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

Cazac, 26, told RFE/RL upon arriving home after his release that he was pardoned by Transdniester leader Igor Smirnov after repeated appeals for clemency.

Cazac expressed gratitude to those who supported him and who publicized his case, including RFE/RL, whose broadcasts he said he listened to while in prison.

He had previously rejected a pardon deal that would have obliged him to plead guilty.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay was scheduled to begin her first visit to Moldova on November 1.

Moldova’s acting president, Marian Lupu, said Cazac’s release was the result of efforts by international mediators involved in trying to resolve Moldova’s two-decade-old territorial dispute with Transdniester.

In May, Transdniester pardoned journalist Ernest Vardanean, a Moldovan whom the breakaway region had imprisoned for espionage.

The Transdniester region declared independence in 1990 and fought a brief war against Moldovan forces two years later. It has de facto sovereignty but is not recognized by any country.

Source: RadioFreeEurope.org