Moldovan justice ministry presents conclusions of workplace investigation on release of life-imprisoned inmates

Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, at a press conference, has presented  conclusions of a workplace investigation on the release from detention of nine individuals sentenced to life imprisonment from Penitentiary No. 17. The authorities announced firm measures, in order to correct deficiencies and reform the penitentiary system.

According to the minister, the investigation, ordered on April 8 and concluded on June 5, highlighted major deficiencies in the enforcement of amendments to the amnesty law, which allowed for sentence commutation without effective risk of recidivism evaluations. Following investigations, three individuals were re-incarcerated and several officials will be investigated, including disciplinary actions.

The new legal provisions were applied without adequate institutional coordination and without clear accountability filters, leading to the release of inmates convicted of particularly serious crimes, emphasized Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.

“Following the investigation, in three cases, the courts annulled the release decisions and the inmates were re-incarcerated, four other appeals were admitted, and one inmate is in the process of extradition. In one case, the revision request is under court consideration. Additionally, it was found that multiple legal benefits, such as amnesty, compensation for inhumane detention conditions, and Articles 91 and 92 of the Penal Code, were enforced cumulatively without proportional and individualized analysis. Special commissions in penitentiaries overlooked essential aspects and the National Penitentiary Administration did not signal the risks related,” said Mihailov-Moraru.

The justice minister informed that three officials had suspended from their positions, ten employees of the National Penitentiary Administration and six from Penitentiary No. 17 would be subject to disciplinary investigations and five individuals who no longer work in the penitentiary system were to be investigated by criminal prosecution bodies. At the same time, she pointed out that the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Integrity Authority, the Superior Council of Magistracy and disciplinary bodies regarding certain lawyers and judicial experts had been notified.

The government will propose legislative changes, to ensure a consistent and responsible application of the present norms, emphasized Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.

“To avoid similar situations, the Justice Ministry will propose legislative changes, that introduce additional filters and objective criteria in inmates' evaluation. Special commissions will be appointed directly by the justice minister and the draft laws on sentence execution will undergo a rigorous endorsement process,” concluded Mihailov-Moraru.

The minister emphasized that justice reforms would continue to restore citizens' trust in the legal system.

Several inmates sentenced to life imprisonment were released early following the enforcement of the amnesty law. The MPs of the parliamentary majority, who voted for the law, said that the release of these convicts had been made possible by implementing amendments proposed to the amnesty law by Olesea Stamate. Following these events, the head of the National Penitentiary Administration, Anatolie Falca, resigned.