Andrei Miroshnichenko from Strășeni town said he risks being jailed or taken to a psychiatrist institution after a criminal case was started against him, he being accused of depriving of freedom his brother who suffers from mental retardation and has development disabilities. The man considers the case against him was fabricated with the aim of dispossessing him and his brother of two plots that they inherited after their mother died.

In a news conference at IPN, Andrei Miroshnichenko said it started a year and a half ago. After his mother died, his brother with disabilities remained in his care. He went to the local Town Hall and asked to have his tutelage over his brother instituted, but the mayor, the family doctor, the chief of the local medical center and other functionaries delayed the issuing of the necessary documents. He complained to the district prosecutor’s office, but hasn’t yet received an answer.

Andrei Miroshnichenko noted that meanwhile he found out that the family doctor complained he was not allowed to enter their home to consult his brother, but this is not true. He was accused of not taking his brother for a walk, but they walk after he returns from work and it often happens late in the evening.

At the beginning of this year, Andrei Miroshnichenko was visited by a group of functionaries who included the doctor, the social assistant and the local police inspector. They inspected the living conditions and told him they would take his brother to the hospital for a medical examination. However, in several days they took him to a specialized institution in Cocieri.

The man said he was recently declared mentally incompetent and posing a social danger. There is a certificate showing he has juvenile schizophrenia, but this is false as it was obtained by his grandmother from a psychiatrist in the Soviet period for freeing him from military service. To prove that he is mentally healthy, Andrei Miroshnichenko agreed to stay at a psychiatric hospital for two weeks, but there he was administered treatment by force and he was unconscious during over half of the period of stay there.

The man noted he does not have mental problems and never had a negligent attitude to his brother who is his only relative alive. The case was fabricated with the aim of dispossessing him and his brother of their three-room apartment, two plots and sums of money that remained in their mother’s bank account. Owing to the criminal case, he cannot come into possession of his inheritance.

Andrei Miroshnichenko said the deputy mayor of Strășeni now has tutelage over his brother who is entitled to half of the inherited property.

Andrei Miroshnichenko called on the community of lawyers to help him in this case. He said the authorities aim to jail him or to take him by force to a psychiatric hospital from where he anticipates he would not get out healthy. He also demands a fair trial of his case and not only of his case as he is sure there are other similar cases.