Prosecutors initiated criminal prosecution for crime of terrorist act, following developments in bomb alert file

Chisinau, August 25 /MOLDPRES/- Prosecutors have started criminal investigation on terrorist act, following the developments in the false bomb alert file.

According to the General Inspectorate of the Police, the initiation of the file derives from the progress of the investigations on the knowingly false communication about the presence of explosives in various locations, which in certain episodes aimed to intimidate the population.

The new qualification of the criminal acts is not only related to the aspect of the punishment that the perpetrators risk, of a minimum of 6 years in prison, but also ensures the national institutions the possibility to cooperate with the anti-terrorist institutions of the states from which information on false alerts was previously requested.

Thus, most of the requested states have provisions in their legislation that attribute to the institutions for combating terrorist acts procedural tools with a wider scope and alert terms for their execution. At the same time, requests to foreign jurisdictions where previous requests on false alerts were sent are to be completed. As part of the criminal investigation, the institutions targeted by the bomb alerts were requested to determine the amount of the damage.

The number of bomb alerts has increased in recent months. Most of them were announced via e-mail and targeted public institutions and the Chisinau International Airport, where security measures were increased to avoid disrupting air traffic.

According to the Criminal Code, the person guilty of knowingly lying about the preparation of explosions risks a fine from 27,500 (about 1,375 euros) to 42,500 lei, 240 hours of unpaid community service or imprisonment of up to 2 years. Also, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has worked out a bill to increase prison sentences and increasing fines for those who falsely report the location of explosives.

Photo: MAI