The Government of the Republic of Moldova pledged to pay €7,500 to a woman who was raped. The complaint filed to the European Court of Human Rights was settled amicably in July 2018. On October 11, the ECHR issued a decision by which it took cognizance of the amicable settlement and decided to drop the woman’s complaint, IPN has learned from the Association “Promo-LEX”.

The 64-year-old woman who is from a village of Strășeni district was raped by a young man from the neighborhood in June 2012. The Strășeni Court sentenced the man to three years in jail and obliged him to pay 3,000 lei to the woman in respect on non-pecuniary damage. The Chisinau Appeals Court partially quashed the sentence of the Strășeni Court and gave the man a suspended sentence, freeing him.

On February 21, 2014, the woman submitted a complaint to the ECHR, invoking the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Government of the Republic of Moldova given that she was raped, humiliated by a person who suffered no discouraging punishment. The woman continued to be victimized by the aggressor when this was released because she denounced him to the authorities.

On May 2, 2017, the ECHR communicated the woman’s complaint to the Government of Moldova. The Court proposed that the Government should pay €7,500 to the woman in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and court costs. On July 20, 2018, the Government of Moldova and the plaintiff reached an agreement under which the woman will receive the €7,500.

According to the lawyer of “Promo-LEX” Vadim Vieru, the national courts of law apparently didn’t take into account the circumstances of the case that is not an ordinary one, the broad media coverage of this case, the age of the victim and the conditions in which the offense was committed. The court didn’t argue the adopted solution and this considerably amplified the feeling of frustration and injustice of the victim. The Supreme Court of Justice should make sure there is a common legal practice of applying punishments for rape and of paying equitable compensation to the victims in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage.