Four guards of the Rezina-based Penitentiary No. 17 were convicted of misuse of power, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in 2009 the four employees of the prison ill-treated two detainees on the pretext of maintaining internal order. The victims were beaten with rubber cudgels and kicked even if they didn’t put up resistance. The prisoners filed complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office and a criminal case was started against the four guards.

In February 2011, the Military Court of Law acquitted the four. But the prosecutors appealed the decision to the Chisinau Appeals Court, which sentenced two of the guards to three years in jail each, while the other two guards – to two years each. The four were also banned from holding posts in the penitentiary system for four and, respectively, three years.

The culprits didn’t agree with the decision of the Chisinau Appeals Court and challenged it. The Supreme Court of Justice rejected their appeal, upholding the challenged decision, which became thus irrevocable.