The parents of Dan Osipciuc, who was shot dead in June 2018 at a swimming pool in Hancesti, say that their son’s killers are at large. The owner of the recreation center managed to flee the country, while the former head of the Hancesti Criminal Police Subdivision was released after serving only five years in prison out of the 12 and a half years given by the court.
In a press conference hosted by IPN, Natalia Osipciuc, the mother of the young man who was shot dead, said that until June 2018 their family was happy. Together with her husband, she was raising two decent boys. Dan was studying at the university, had just completed his first year of study, played football, played guitar, knew foreign languages and had many friends. That evening, after taking an exam, he went to watch a football match with his friends, warning his parents that he would come home later. However, shortly after 03:00 a.m., they were phoned by the police and told that the young man had been shot “during arrest”. “That’s when our nightmare began. Since then, we have not lived, but simply existed,” related the woman.
Sergiu Osipciuc, the young man’s father, said that their son, together with three friends, after watching the match, went to swim in that pool, jumping over the fence. After three of them sank, they heard the cries of the pool owner and a pistol shot was heard. Dan tried to flee, but the police officer ran after him and another gunshot was heard shortly afterward. The images from the cameras installed at the pool were deleted, but not those from inside the building. In them, it is seen that before the incident, the two defendants were drinking coffee and the former policeman had the pistol on him. The owner of the recreation center took his own pistol out of the drawer and went out to the pool.
A criminal case for homicide was started against Ion Cojocaru, then head of the Hancesti Criminal Police Subdivision, as well as against the owner of the recreation center, Amir Rabi, who had stayed in Moldova for about 16 years. The criminals were not apprehended immediately so that they had time to destroy evidence and this fact was confirmed by witnesses. Investigations followed and attempts were made within these to distort the truth, including by asserting that Dan shot himself. It was insinuated that the boy had a degree of alcoholaemia which, according to specialists, indicated alcoholic coma. Also, an attempt was made to delay the case by numerous requests to postpone the hearings, by invoking the need for an interpreter for one of the defendants.
In a year of the murder, the former policeman was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. The other man was found guilty of using the weapon in a public place. He passed the statute of limitations and was released. Appeals followed at the Chisinau Court of Appeals, where the examination lasted almost two years. The court upheld the 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence and found Amir Rabi guilty of inciting murder and exceeding his official duties, being sentenced to five years behind bars. When the sentence was passed, he had already fled the country and is currently in Romania. As a result, an appeal was filed with the Supreme Court of Justice and the examination lasted for almost two years.
The boy’s parents say the reasoned ruling published by the SCJ shocked them. It was decided to retry the case at the Court of Appeasl with another judges. They also found out that in August 2023, Ion Cojocaru was set free.
The defendant complained about poor conditions in detention and his jail term was reduced. “So, convict Cojocaru used the provisions of the Law on amnesty on the occasion of 30 years of Independence and requested a one-fifth reduction in the jail term. The same judge of inquiry ruled that he was entitled to this,” said Dan Osipciuc’s father.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider themselves targeted in the news made from the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
