The dean of the Chisinau Bar Association Emanoil Plosnita said the Penal Code and the Contravention Code should be supplemented with penalties for interference in the work of lawyers. “The Law on Advocacy clearly provides that the interference in the work of persons who represent the defense is punished by law”, the dean said in a news conference at IPN.

Victor Paniru, a member of the Board of the Lawyers Union, told the same news conference that by taking legal action against lawyers based on Article 352, first paragraph of the Penal Code “False statements”, self-censorship is imposed in lawyers’ actions aimed at protecting the rights of clients. The prosecution bodies, society should realize that the lawyers do nothing else but represent the interests of clients and, even if they can be held accountable, they cannot be penalized for false statements,” stated Victor Pantru.

“The lawyers in principle cannot commit such an offense and cannot be prosecuted for it. The intention of the prosecution bodies to start criminal cases based on Article 352, first paragraph “False statements” against lawyers actually represents intimidation of lawyers and is a serious deviation from the general law principles,” stated the lawyer.

President of the Lawyers Union Nina Lozan noted that a serious precedent concerning the cultivation of fear in the defenders of the rights and freedoms of people is set in justice. This is fear of possible and unjust prosecution because of statements made by lawyers at particular stages of a trial, using the information provided by his client, with the lawyer not being obliged to or being unable to verify the authenticity of this information.

In this connection, the lawyers expressed their disagreement with the prosecution of their colleagues Veaceslav Turcan and Maxim Belinski for false statements and demanded to stop the intimidation attempts that are against the national penal legislation and international standards.