Ex-vice director general of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions Vitalie Bocancea and his lawyer Vitalie Taulean consider judge Sergiu Ciobanu, of the Military Court of Chisinau, during almost a year has committed illegalities in a case in which Vitalie Bocancea is the injured party. The victim and the lawyer told a news conference at IPN that they submitted 15 applications asking replacing the judge, but this continues to commit violations.
According to the two, a number of legal norms were violated during the examination of this case, namely questioning of witnesses in the absence of the injured party and the lawyer and fining of the two.
“During the trial, I was attacked by a detainee and suffered a heart attack and an ischemic attack. Judge Ciobanu tolerated this offense as the representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office did. Furthermore, I was fined by the judge because I didn’t come to the hearing when I was in the hospital,” said lawyer Vitalie Taulean.
Vitalie Bocancea said that in the last hearing in this case, his and his lawyer’s access to the courtroom was restricted by five men dressed in military uniforms, who presented no document allowing banning their entry.
“I came to the hearing and was met by ‘little green men’ who didn’t present themselves and didn’t explain why we weren’t allowed to enter. Ultimately, I received an extract with false data because of which I was not allowed to enter. After all the witnessed aggression, I started to question the uprightness of judge Ciobanu,” stated Bocancea.
According to the lawyer, the prosecutor general requested transferring this case from the Military Court to another court for the reason that abuses are often committed at this institution, but his request was rejected by the Supreme Court of Justice. “I think the aggression against me and the way I was treated should be the subject of a criminal case. The Prosecutor General’s Office should take legal action against this judge,” said Vitalie Taulean.
According to Vitalie Bocancea, the case was started against a former colleague who tried to discredit him with the aim of obtaining his dismissal. The first hearing in this case was held on February 25, 2015.
