Helsinki Committee calls on Parliament to adopt law on amnesty

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights called upon the legislative body to pass a law on amnesty on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of Moldova’s independence. The amnestying would lead to the optimization of the detention condition and their adjustment to the Council of Europe standards, executive director of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Tudor Carnat told a news conference on Tuesday, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “The situation in Moldova is tense owing to the political interests pursued. For this reason, we consider that the Ministry of Justice has the task of preparing a law on amnesty and submit it to Parliament for adoption as soon as possible,” said Tudor Carnat. According to him, if certain categories of detainees are amnestied, the number of penitentiaries can be reduced from 18 to 16, as the Council of Europe demanded. “If the state has fewer persons imprisoned, more money will be saved. This money is now used to provide the prisoners with food and medications. These persons can find employment and make themselves useful,” said Tudor Carnat. Acting President Marian Lupu proposed granting amnesty on the 20th anniversary of the country’s independence, but his initiative wasn’t endorsed by the parliamentary commission on national security, defense and public order. In the same news conference, Roman Mihaes, chairman of the League for the Defense of Consumer Rights, expressed his concern about a bill that provides for holding accountable the persons for tax evasion. “It is a dangerous initiative that refers to the ‘criminalization’ of the Penal Code, to what we call tax evasion. What the legislature wants to do is non-European as the de- criminalization of the Penal Code is a condition imposed on the associate countries of the EU,” said Roman Mihaes. He also said that given that the state cannot ensure decent pensions and salaries and a large part of the citizens work abroad and send money home, the authorities should not apply measures to punish those who do not declare this money and do not pay taxes on them. “It is not fair to hold accountable the private individuals for tax evasion,” said Roman Mihaes.