People who are sentenced to life imprisonment will not be able to benefit at the same time from an amnesty and parole. Parliament amended the Amnesty Act and the Criminal Code in two readings, IPN reports.
It comes after convicted murderer Alexander Sinigur, sentenced to life imprisonment, was recently released from prison under Article 91 – early release for inhuman conditions of detention.
Before moving to the agenda, also in the context of the release of several criminals from prison, Bloc of Communists and Socialists MP Grigore Novac proposed to hear Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov Moraru and to set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry, but the request failed to get the required number of votes.
PAS MEP Igor Chiriac explained that the new provisions will no longer allow the application of double reduction of sentences in release procedures. Thus, persons whose sentences have been commuted from life imprisonment to imprisonment can no longer be released on early parole under Article 91.
“Persons whose sentence has been commuted from life imprisonment to imprisonment for 30 years will no longer be eligible to apply to the court to have their term of imprisonment reduced. They will have to actually serve the sentence they were given of 30 years,” Chiriac explained.
It was not the amnesty law that allowed the release of these categories of prisoners, but some amendments promoted by PAS, insisted Grigore Novac.
“Regretfully, these legal effects have not only affected those who have committed light offenses, but also those who have committed extremely serious crimes and criminal leaders, you have given them a great gift,” said Grigore Novac.
“I think you understand well what the concerns of the society are in the context that you detain political opponents but allow the release of criminals. It is not very clear why today you have tried to put on the back of one person (alluding to Olesea Stamate, dismissed from PAS, editor’s note), what to do with the other 10 MPs who signed that document and allowed the release?” said BCS MP Diana Caraman.
Olesea Stamate was excluded for the said amendment from PAS, although the draft has among its authors both the Deputy Speaker Doina Gherman, the current head of the Legal Committee on Appointments and Immunities Veronica Rosca, and 8 other PAS MPs.
“When we came up with this draft, it was presented to the plenary and this draft was voted with the majority of all of us, later it underwent three amendments, one of which allowed the commutation of the sentence,” Chiriac said.
Today’s amendments will enter into force on the date of publication in the Official Journal. The provisions will also be applicable to persons who have already been subject to extrajudicial and judicial proceedings for early release on parole or for the replacement of the unexecuted part of the sentence with a lighter one.
