Cases on April 7, 2009 events are delayed because evidence was lost, lawyers

02.12.2011 06:24
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The examination of the legal cases concerning the April 7, 2009 events is postponed because the victims have been hampered from the very beginning, said two lawyers who represent maltreated young persons in court. According to them, the criminal cases were started only half a year after the protests. Meanwhile, all the proofs and signs of torture disappeared, while the police officers who ill-treated young people changed the workplace, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a roundtable meeting centering on the drawbacks and results in investigating the cases of use of torture on April 7, 2009, lawyer Olesea Doronceanu said the cases started to be examined late as they tried to hush up the situation. “They have hindered the examination of the cases since the victims filed the complaints, immediately after going out of police stations. The first problem faced was that we did not know where the complaints should be submitted – to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Military Prosecutor’s Office or the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office. Afterward, they could not decide who should examine them, which prosecutors were competent,” she said. According to her, a lot of time passed since the complaints were registered and the person was called to make depositions. The second problem was that the prosecutors summoned the victims to provide explanations as complainers, not as injured parties. No legal case was opened to perform investigations. It took the lawyers 2-3 months to go through the appeal procedures. Ultimately, the judge reached the conclusion that the investigation conducted by the prosecutor was inefficient and the cases were sent to the Prosecutor’s Office. Criminal cases were started afterward and there were investigated the cases of ill-treatment. “Half a year after the events, the evidence disappeared and the police officers involved were transferred to other jobs,” said the lawyer. Another lawyer, Natalia Molosag said the investigation went on slowly as a lot depended on the behavior of the players involved – lawyers, prosecutors, those accused and the plaintiffs, as well as the judges trying the cases. Furthermore, many of the witnesses did not come to hearings and the trials were adjourned because the lawyers were on leave or because of the winter holidays. Lilian Apostol, acting head of the Justice Ministry’s Governmental Agent Division, said not only the cases on the April 7, 2009 events are delayed, but all the cases as there are not enough judges and some of the procedural elements are not clear. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the prosecutors examined 108 complaints over the April 7, 2009 protests. Criminal cases were started in 58 of the cases. Of them, 27 legal cases against 44 police officers were sent to court. The charges in six of the cases were dropped, while the examination of 25 of the cases was suspended because the offenders could not be identified as they were masked. After judging the cases, the courts acquitted nine persons and passed three convictions.