Minister of Justice Fadei Nagachevski stated that the compensatory instrument for prisoners affects state security. According to him, if the jail term is suddenly cut considerably, this can lead to cases when persons who are not ready to enter the social circuit reintegrate into society, IPN reports.
The minister said there are now about 6,700 persons held in Moldova’s jails and more than 5,000 persons filed applications to benefit from the compensatory instrument. This is mainly applied by courts without individualizing the detention conditions for each prisoner apart. “This fact seriously encroaches upon state security. If the jail term is suddenly cut considerably, this can lead to cases when persons who are not prepared enter the social circuit,” explained Nagachevski.
He also said that the moratorium on the use of this instrument was imposed because this is unpredictable in terms of the implementation methods and in particular situations that are not defined by the legislation and the judges thus encounter difficulties in implementing it. “How can this compensatory instrument be applied in relation to prisoners serving life? There are particular aspects that remained unaddressed. Also, it is not clear how the judges can use this instrument so as to differentiate between the detention conditions in a cell or another. As a matter of fact, it is applied similarly for everyone without individualizing the detention conditions,” the minister stated in a program on TVR Moldova channel.
According to him, the moratorium will not apply to the already submitted applications. The about 5,000 applications will also be a test for courts of law. “We will take those decisions that will be issued additionally into account when assessing the compensatory instrument. We want to respect the detention conditions, to offer the possibility of benefitting from the compensatory instrument. But I’m interested in having the security of the state and the people guaranteed,” said Fadei Nagachevski.
The minister noted the provision that refers to the compensatory instrument should not be abrogated, but should be adjusted so that it does not violate the rights of the other citizens and does not affect state security. He reminded that the compensatory instrument allows to cut the jail term or to award damages.
