A police inspector of Chisinau’s Rascani district was sentenced to three years in jail, but put on probation for a two-year-period, for abuse of power during the April 2009 events. He was also banned from holding posts in the law enforcement bodies for a period of two years, IPN reports.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, on April 9, 2009, the policeman punched a young man with the aim of extracting from him information about other participants in the violent protests of April 7, 2009. Several hours later, the culprit told the victim to lie down with the face downwards and kicked him.
The police officer was accused of use of torture, but the Rascani district court re-qualified the offender’s acts, convicting him of abuse of power, which carries a milder punishment. The prosecutors consider the sentence is too mild and intend to appeal it to a higher court.
