Prisoner stabs himself protesting against intimidation

10.07.2008 06:01
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A prisoner form the Cricova jail stabbed himself protesting against being intimidated. The statement was made on Thursday by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights from Moldova, at a news conference, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to barrister Oleg Chicu, the detainee stabbed himself in the stomach with a sharp object. The incident occurred on June 28. After staying in hospital, the man was locked up again, without getting the necessary medical assistance. The lawyer says the jail officers menaced him to convince his mother not to protest in front of the Parliament. He says his client was psychologically pressed by penitentiary guards, including threating him to be transferred to another jail. In her turn, the prisoner's mother says she will give up protesting only when her son will be recognized not guilty and freed. The woman says the dossier is fabricated and her son serves a sentence for a crime committed by someone else. According to the president of the Helsinki Committee, Stefan Uratu, the prisoner goes on being intimidated, while the danger “of participating in a transit” (transferring prisoners from one jail to another during which some are beaten by other inmates with the guards' consent) is very likely. Such practices are not met in Moldova only, but Moldova may get punished by the ECHR for torturing inmates. The man is accused of a crime committed in 2001. The lower court found him innocent, while the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Justice found him guilty. He was convicted to 12 years of jail for murder. His mother has been protesting in front of the Parliament's building since July 16, 2007. The 29-year-old man is to serve 10 years more.