The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made public the decisions in the cases of Rimschi versus Moldova and Silvestru versus Moldova, by which the country’s administration is obliged to pay €9,000 damages to the plaintiffs, IPN reports.
The Jurists for Human Rights Association said that in the case of Rimschi versus Moldova, the applicant Valentin Rimschi complained to the High Court that he was arrested on July 21, 2009, being charged with the offence of producing and putting into circulation counterfeit money. The detention warrants were prolonged every month initially and every three months once the case had reached the Ialoveni District Court. Each time the reasons given for the detention were that the applicant had been accused of a serious offence punishable with imprisonment of up to fifteen years. On January 30, 2012 the applicant was convicted and sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment.
The ECHR noted that the applicant was repeatedly detained ‒ on the basis of the same reasons each time ‒ for more than thirty months. The reasons appear to have been limited to paraphrasing the reasons for detention provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure, without explaining how they applied in the applicant’s case. The domestic courts did not explain why they believed that the applicant would abscond or re-offend, nor, did they explain how he could tamper with evidence or witnesses more than two years after the beginning of the proceedings. The Court held that his detention had been excessively long and had not been based on relevant and sufficient grounds. It awarded €3,000 in respect on non-pecuniary damage to the applicant.
In the case of Silvestru, the applicant Sergiu Silvestru was arrested in April 2008 and placed in detention on suspicion of aggravated rape and ill-treatment of a young woman. On December 29, 2009 the applicant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment. In the meantime, between 30 April 2008 and 6 September 2010 the applicant was detained in Prison no. 13 in Chisinau where, according to him, the conditions of detention were very poor. The Court noted that the Government adduced no evidence in support of their submission to the effect that considerable improvements in Prison No. 13 had taken place in recent years. It awarded the applicant €5,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and €500 in respect of costs and expenses.
