The punishments for committing serious crimes were toughened up. The penalty for deliberate murder until now was 8 to 15 years in jail, but from now on will be 10 to 15 years. A bill to this effect was passed by the lawmakers in the first reading, IPN reports.

Under the bill, the authors of killing by order face 15 to 20 years behind bars, as against 12-20 years until now. Those who will intentionally cause serious bodily injuries to a minor or a pregnant woman will serve by five years more in prison – 10 or 12 years.

One of the bill authors, Communist MP Igor Vremea said the punishments should be made harsher because the number of murders in 2009-2011 rose by over 7%, of cases of causing serious injuries – by over 20%, while of robberies – by over 22%.

The bill adopted in the first reading also institutes harsher penalties for theft, threatening with death or causing of serious injuries. The punishments for blackmail, robberies and burglaries were increased by 2-3 years.