The law enforcement institutions need to investigate how was it possible for four people to be sentenced to ten years in prison for alleged torture. The request was made by Liviu Vovc, ACUM bloc MP, Platform DA.
In a press conference held on September 17, Liviu Vovc said that, as an MP, he will write an official request to investigate how the four persons, one of whom was serving as a forestry officer, were convicted.
According to the indictment, Ion Ciobanu, along with his son and two other people who were working as employees of the Forest District of Scoreni, spotted three people who illegally cut trees, whom they violently tackled by shooting into the air, then immobilized them on the ground, insulted and humiliated them and applied multiple blows with their guns, fists and legs.
"The victim's forensic expertise states that they suffered minor injuries, while the ballistic expertise of the weapon is missing. It is clear that this case is fabricated. We had other precedents of fabricated cases - Gheorghe Petic and Sergiu Cebotari - whose cases were fabricated on political grounds. We must end this practice”, said Liviu Vovc.
The MP claims that the foresters of every forest district were obliged to pay a monthly amount of money to the ruling party. "Those who did not comply and did not accept to leave their position were forced to leave", said Liviu Vovc, who claims that the four people were jailed for ten years so that others could get rich.
The appeal filed by the lawyers of the four convicts was admitted by the Supreme Court of Justice, who sent the case for re-examination to another panel of judges at the Court of Appeal. Liviu Vovc said that, at the hearing set for September 18 at the Court of Appeal, the judges should get into the essence of the case and thoroughly analyze the evidence.
At the conference, Oleg Spânu, one of the lawyers of the four convicts, said that it was for the first time in his professional career when he encountered such a poorly investigated case. "I understand that procedurally nothing can be done, however, charges can be dropped", said the lawyer.
According to the sentences given by the judges, Ion Ciobanu was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in a closed prison, his son received 9 years of imprisonment with execution, while the other two workers have been jailed for 8 years each.
