The number of detainees in Moldova’s penitentiaries against the size of the population is twice higher than the European average. By this indicator, Moldova takes the fifth place in the rankings of the 47 Council of Europe member states, Vlad Gribincea, head of the Legal Resources Center, stated in an interview for Radio Free Europe that is quoted by IPN.
According to official statistics to which Radio Free Europe makes reference, the number of persons in remand detention decreased by 34% in 2018. Vlad Gribincea said yet the number of such persons against the total number of persons held in jails was actually higher as official statistics for 2018 show a decline in all the categories of people held in jails, not only convicts, but also those in remand detention. “The number of arrested persons decreased indeed, but the number of detainees decreased in general,” explained Vlad Gribincea.
He noted the decline was due not to the attitude of prosecutors and judges, but to an amendment made to the law. Before 2018, any person suspected of committing an offense punished with at least one year in prison could be arrested. In 2018, this minimum level was raised to three years in jail. Currently, the judges of inquiry authorize almost nine in ten remand detention requests made by prosecutors. In 2018, according to official reports, the request acceptance rate was the highest ever, of 88.4%. In 2003-2004, this rate was by at least 10% lower.
“Why does this happen? It was established, at least by the International Commission of Jurists, that fear prevails in the justice sector in the Republic of Moldova. This fear makes the judges adopt decisions that they think are convenient for the government,” noted the jurist. “The general approach at international level is the following: if you cannot motivate the arrest, other noncustodial measures should be applied. At least in the Republic of Moldova, many jails are overcrowded and the detention conditions here are poor. The question is: if the detention conditions ae poor and the jails are overcrowded and there are no reasons for the arrest, why do you further arrest? There are electronic tags, house arrest, judicial control and many other measures. I established that in the Republic of Moldova, such alternative measures are applied very seldom. The Superior Council of Magistracy actually ascertained this in 2018”
The European Court of Human Rights so far convicted Moldova in over 20 cases for insufficient grounds for arrest. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe after the first conviction requested Moldova to take all the possible measures to prevent such a phenomenon in the future.
According to the data published by the Ministry of Justice, 7,319 persons were held in Moldova’s jails on July 1, 2018, by 549 persons fewer than in the corresponding period a year before.
