The state was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights of violating the right to freedom in the case of Salinschi versus the Republic of Moldova. The Court held that the detaining of the applicant between March 12 and June 19, 2018 wasn’t based on a reasonable suspicion and the case contained insufficient evidence that would convince an objective observer of the fact that the plaintiff committed the offense of which he was accused.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Victor Salinschi, who is a doctor by profession, said that since 1999 he had been involved in 17 civil lawsuits concerning real estate based in Chisinau. He reached a particular result and sought help from his uncle and cousin who told him they could help him solve problems deriving from the court proceedings in which he was involved in 1999-2011. But the two months during which the issues were to be resolved turned into years. He presented a series of documents, but a criminal case was anyway started. He was even escorted from Basarabeasca to Chisinau.
He later realized that this case was ordered by an oligarch who is now a fugitive. He was remanded in custody and was then taken to Penitentiary No. 13. In the period, he hoped that the prosecutor in charge of the case will clarify things but he understood that things weren’t transparent. “No arguments were provided. They argued I can abscond, destroy documents, influence witnesses, cause public disorder,” stated Victor Salinschi.
He noted that the judges to blame for the convictions by the ECHR should answer, but a mechanism should be also introduced to oblige these judges pay the damages awarded by the European Court in a twice larger amount. “If the principles of meritocracy are not promoted in the future, if these judges are not assessed by commissions and public opinion is not sensitized, we will not obtain results. We will see the people leaving the country and only thieves and pensioners will remain here,” said Victor Salinschi.
Andrei Briceac, the lawyer for Victor Salinschi, said the functionaries responsible for the conviction of the Republic of Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights should fully cover the costs incurred by the state based on these judgments. He made a public call to the responsible authorities, asking the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office to hold accountable the judges, prosecutors and all the public servants who are to blame for the ECHR convictions for the made mistakes.
“We pointed to a concrete shortcoming that still exists in our national system. We call on the authorities to take the necessary measures to hold accountable the persons who are directly responsible for the convictions by the ECHR. The damages paid to our citizens from the state budget should be collected from the persons responsible for those mistakes and abuses,” noted the lawyer.
The conference forms part of the series of conferences held as part of IPN News Agency’s project “Support for the Justice Reform through multimedia coverage of cases of alleged injustice”. The Agency does not bear responsibility for the public statements made in the public sphere by the organizers of news conferences. IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
