An increasing number of persons suffer or even die in the penitentiary system of Moldova owing to the deficient medical assistance and to the actions taken by the courts of law by illegally applying arrest. The lawyers of Promo-Lex Vadim Vieru and Nicoleta Hriplivyi told a news conference that the responsible authorities didn’t react to the appeals made by Promo-LEX and other international organizations, IPN reports.
Nicoleta Hriplivyi referred in particular to the case of Sergei Cosovan, businessman and former local councilor of Codru town. This was placed under preventive arrest in September 2017, on accusations of fraud and abuse of power. This was held on remand and was placed under house arrest. Sergei Cosovan was to be taken from remand under house arrest immediately after the judge ordered this, but when leaving the penitentiary, he was arrested by police employees on another count of the same offence and a new criminal case was started against him.
“This is circumventing of the law. A person cannot be held in remand detention for over a year. If there is another case, the remand detention period can be extended for another year at most. Ten months have passed in his case. Even if he was convicted recently, the sentence didn’t take effect and this is not a revocable decision,” stated the lawyer.
Nicoleta Hriplivyi said the man’s state has worsened considerably. The requests to transfer him to a public specialized hospital were rejected. The UN Committee against Torture Recommends that in the case of such a serious disease as the one from which Sergei Cosovan suffers, the detainees should fully benefit from qualified medical assistance, which cannot be provided by the medical service of the penitentiary system of Moldova.
“We hope the authorities will hear us and will work out policies that will stop the process of abusively imposing preventive detention at the request of prosecutors,” said Vadim Vieru, lawyer of Promo-LEX.
Promo-LEX on July 25 sent the observations on the issue to the European Court of Human Rights. On March 29 this year, the Court urgently communicated the complaint of Sergei Cosovan submitted by Promo-LEX on March 20, 2018.
Promo-LEX calls on the Government of Moldova and the competent authorities to immediately transfer Sergei Cosovan to a public medical institution specialized in the treatment of severe hepatic diseases and liver transplant, to take measures to reduce the excessive and unjustified application of preventive arrest in Moldova and to ensure the implementation of the recommendations formulated by the UN Committee against Torture in 2017.
