The amendments regarding treason made to the Criminal Code must be rethought as they can generate abuses, said lawyer Vadim Vieru, program director of the Promo-Lex Association. According to the jurist, the amendments were not consulted with the civil society and, in the current formula, they can generate erroneous interpretations, IPN reports.
The program director of the Promo-Lex Association noted that the amendments to the Criminal Code, which aim to regulate more clearly the crimes of treason, should have been consulted with the civil society before approval.
“The Criminal Code is a very important law and practically every comma in the Criminal Code can produce legal consequences. It is the type of legal norm that must be very well thought out, when you come up with particular initiatives. I don’t know, in the case of this initiative, if university professors had been consulted. We don’t have so many specialists, university professors and doctrinaires in the Criminal Code, but we have enough for them to come up with a very well documented and balanced opinion on these amendments. I don’t know if this happened. Considering the way the norm was formulated, I think this didn’t happen,” Vadim Vieru stated in the program “Non-confidential” on Radio Chisinau.
According to the expert, the amendments made by Parliament to the Criminal Code can generate abuses and risks to citizens’ rights. The bill must be rethought so as not to create dangerous precedents in the future.
“The way the rule is formulated can generate abuses. It can lead to extensive, erroneous interpretations, to the situation in which there would be particular risks to rights. Amnesty International criticized this amendment. I think it is an initiative that needs to be rethought. The way in which the criminal law is formulated must be rethought. It creates precedents for other governments. If we have another government and the same norm remains, the boomerang can return,” said lawyer Vadim Vieru.
The amendments on treason made to the Criminal Code were adopted by Parliament on May 30. According to the new version of the Criminal Code, treason also means aiding a foreign state, a foreign organization or an unconstitutional entity in carrying out hostile activities against state security, including through disinformation campaigns. In order to enter into force, the draft law needs to be promulgated by President Maia Sandu.
