The provisions of the legislation on separatism can be turned into a Penal Code scarecrow, but without the possibility of implementing these, lawyer Alexandru Postica, co-founder of Promo-LEX Association, stated in a public debate staged by IPN News Agency. According to him, the adoption of this law can generate similar actions in Tiraspol and the self-styled Transnistrian authorities can adopt similar decisions that will be used to persecute the citizens.
Under the new provisions on separatism that were given a final reading by Parliament last week, separatism represents actions taken to separate a part of the territory from the Republic of Moldova and to distribute information that incites such actions. The jurist of Promo-Lex Alexandru Postica said the law refers to high-ranking Transnistrian officials, but cannot cover all the citizens who work for the so-called state bodies of the Transnistrian region.
“The new provisions that refer to separatism seriously endanger the security of the Republic of Moldova. These offenses defined in the Penal Code form part of the offenses against state security. We speak about persons who deal with the transmission of information, collection of information that represents state secret. So, it does not go to the entire population from the left side of the Nistru. If you work for a so-called minister in the region, it does not mean you are automatically an offender. No way. We speak about persons who collect confidential information, state secret, and use it to the detriment of the security of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Alexandru Postica.
According to the jurist, the adoption of the law on separatism can make the authorities in Tiraspol take similar actions and this will further affect the human rights situation in the region.
“The self-styled authorities adopted all kinds of possible and impossible decisions to isolate the citizens from the left side of the Nistru. In 2023, there are persons detained on the left side of the Nistru because they hoisted the flag of Ukraine and were this way accused of extremism. It’s clear that things there stand badly in terms of observance of human rights. Similar actions can be taken there. If the law on separatism was adopted in Chisinau, in Tiraspol they can take other similar decision so that any journalist from Chisinau who will publish something about the Transnistrian region can be convicted for insult to the statehood,” explained the expert of Promo-Lex.
He noted there are risks that the law on separatism will remain on paper only. Alexandru Postica expressed his skepticism about state institutions’ capacities to implement this law.
“The people who live there do not face any risks, even if they form part of particular bodies, as long as their actions do not cross particular read lines - the security of the Republic of Moldova. Our capacity to implement this law is another issue. Are the law enforcement agencies ready for this? What has happened after Vadim Pisari was killed? Nothing. There is also the risk that the Penal Code will contain a scarecrow, but this will not have any effect. We risk having ineffective Penal Code norms. The inefficiency and inapplicability or nonuniform application of these norms are the dangers that derive from this Law,” said Alexandru Postica.
The public debate entitled “Implementation mechanisms and possible effects of new anti-separatism legislation” was the 271st installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
