Torture and inhuman detention conditions persist in penitentiaries, former detainee

Torture and inhuman detention conditions still persist in the penitentiaries, Tudor Ciorap, veteran of the Nistru war and former detainee, told a news conference on December 10. Ciorap, who won several cases over use of torture at the ECHR, said torture can be eradicated from prisons only with the direct involvement of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, Info-Prim Neo reports. Tudor Ciorap has been released recently. He said that during his term of 8 years and a half in prison, he had been subjected to torture for numerous times. He stressed that he was sentenced to jail under a case fabricated by order. “The conditions in the penitentiaries are appalling. We had light only four hours a day. I wrote about everything that happened to me by the light of the candle and the second day I was beaten and tortured by police officers,” Tudor Ciorap said, adding he often though of committing suicide. Tudor Ciorap said he wrote a book about that period, entitled “I Started to be Afraid in My Country”. The book is about the detention conditions, the use of torture and the ‘disappearance’ of some of the detainees. The author asks a number of questions as regards the money allocated to the penitentiary system. “Where is all this money going to? All the food and money were stolen by the prison employees. Who will punish them?” he asked. According to him, the number of employees in the administration of the penitentiaries should be reduced. Tudor Ciorap called on the law enforcement bodies to review the laws and decisions made by the former administration and to improve the conditions in jails.