The Ministry of Justice has opened an internal inquiry and requested the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the case of death of a young man in penitentiary No. 16. Deputy Minister of Justice Anatolie Munteanu told a news conference that Andrei Braguta entered the penitentiary system as a patient and medical examinations showed he needed to be under permanent supervision at the psychiatric unit of Penitentiary No. 16, which also has the status of psychiatric hospital. Two days later, the young man died, IPN reports.
The deputy minister noted that the young man was brought to the psycho-neurological section of the hospital of Penitentiary No. 16 on August 24. He was subject to ordinary examinations by having particular samples taken from him. On the night of August 26, his state of health worsened and he died. “Consequently, I want to refute any belief that the detainee, being in the system, was subject to inhuman or bad treatment. We are ready to cooperate with the investigation bodies, which, to my mind, should investigate this case in the most serious way. The prosecution bodies already conduct investigations. At particular intermediary phases of the investigation, prosecutors will provide details,” stated Anatolie Munteanu.
He also said that initially, on August 21, Andrei Braguta was brought to Penitentiary No. 13, but the medical examination showed this needed a psychiatric consultation. When he was taken to Penitentiary No. 16, he had bruises on the body. The director of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions and the prosecutor were informed about this and the investigation was then launched.
“This is a rather complicated situation and an internal inquiry was opened. We insist that the prosecution body should take all the necessary measures. A medical-legal examination is more than necessary as this would help find out the cause of death,” stated the deputy minister of justice.
For his part, the chief of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions Aureliu Suhan said Andrei Braguta was referred from Penitentiary No. 13 to the psychiatric unit of penitentiary No. 16 based on a court decision. It was the police, not those from the penitentiary who were responsible for the transfer. “Physically, Andrei Braguta didn’t enter Penitentiary No. 13 because he refused to. His transfer to the psychiatric hospital was within the competence of the police. He came to Penitentiary No. 13 only after he had a psychiatric consultation, on August 24, but didn’t stay for more than 20 minutes there. The documents for his transfer to Penitentiary No. 16 were prepared in the period. In less than two hours, he was admitted to the Penitentiary Hospital No. 16,” he stated.
According to Aureliu Suhan, a final diagnosis, except for that from the psychiatric hospital, does not exist. “Unfortunately, at 3am on August 26, the citizen died. This fact was made public immediately and the prosecutor general was also informed. In this case, Department of Penitentiary Institutions launched an internal inquiry. The bodies of the Prosecutor General’s Office collected the largest part of the relevant documents from the Department and some of the doctors started to be questioned. The prosecutors already have a picture of the events, but will provide details later,” he said.
The General Police Inspectorate gave particular details about the death of Andrei Braguta in penitentiary. In a press release, this said the young man died from respiratory failure with purulent bronchopneumonia and this fact was confirmed by medical certificates. The bruises that the young man had on the body were the result of aggression on the part of his cell mates, who said that Braguta had a deviant behavior with sexual implications and they felt themselves abused.
