A number of 6,030 persons are now held in jails in Moldova. Out of these, 129 were sentenced to life imprisonment. They were all sentenced for exceptionally serious crimes and serve time in penitentiary No.17 in Rezina. Some of them have the chance to be released, but only on particular conditions.

In a response to an inquiry made by IPN, the National Administration of Penitentiaries said the youngest man who was given life is aged 21, while the oldest is aged 73. Most of the prisoners who got life have secondary and incomplete secondary education. Six of them have higher education, while one convict does not have studies.

Only men do life. Under the current Penal Code, life cannot be given to women and minors.

The persons sentenced to life imprisonment can be set free if they served effectively at least 30 years behind bars without the privileged rewarding for workdays and if they fulfilled the individual sentence serving program, fully paid the damage caused by the offense for which they were sentenced, except for cases when it is proven that they do not have any possibility of doing this, and if it is established that correction is possible without fully serving the sentence.

The comparative analysis for the last ten years shows an increase in the number of persons doing life. According to the National Administration of Penitentiaries’ data, there were 104 persons serving life sentences in jails in 2012 and the figure rose meanwhile.