Recently, in mass-media it appeared the information about maltreatments applied to Gheorghe Petic who is into the custody of the Penitentiary no. 13 of Chisinau. People’s Advocate Office at the same time reacted to two claims of Gheorghe Petic on these matters. The claimant declares that on April 21, 2019, the director of the Penitentiary no. 13 of Chisinau together with the employees of the penitentiary institution hit and pushed him; restricted his access to telephone calls and his correspondence is censured and/or it is not delivered from the penitentiary; some of his goods were illegal taken from the cell; he is supposed to maltreatments in the cell in which he is held in inhuman conditions (in the basement, fact which violates his dignity, physical and mental integrity and affects his health condition while being into the custody).
Gheorghe Petic also invokes that the administration of the Penitentiary no. 13 applied unfounded disciplinary sanction of deprivation of the right to visits for a period of 3 months.
On April 25, 2019, the staff of People’s Advocate Office made a visit to the Penitentiary no. 13 of Chisinau for verifying the facts specified in the claims of Gheorghe Petic.
After the visit and evidentiary support, People’s Advocate Office considers that the detention of persons in the basement of the Penitentiary no. 13 (post no.13), including the cell in which Gheprghe Petic is held is contrary to provisions of art.3 of the European convention for human rights.
Gheorghe Petic is held alone beginning with March 26, 2019 in a cell with the surface of 9,12 square meters where there are four storeyed beds. Although, it previously was supposed to cosmetic repair, there is still abundant dampness and continuous staying in such conditions affects the health condition of the claimant. There is no artificial ventilation, the floor is of concrete, it is cold and wet, the mattresses are old and insalubrious. The bed is not comfortable; the non-isolated electrical wires are dangerous. There are no storage spaces for personal goods as well as spaces for drying the cloths. Gheorghe Petic has the right to a bath once a week, one hour for walking in the morning of every day in the yard of the penitentiary, access to books/magazines from the library of the penitentiary and to telephone (20 min./call), he is visited by his defenders.
Administration of the Penitentiary no. 13 denies the accusations about the application of physical force on April 21, 2019. According to the operative syntheses of April 21 and 22, 2019, the Penitentiary no. 13 of Chisinau didn’t report the application of physical force/special means by the staff of the institution on the detainee, Gheorghe Petic. Identification of circumstances of body injury application, torture actions and/or maltreatments is under the exclusively responsibility of the criminal prosecution bodies and the court of law. On this line, a claim was submitted by the claimant to the prosecutor’ office authorities. According to the outpatient medical record on April 23, 2019 (last examination) the claimant had no complaints, body injures were not identified. The medical service didn’t perform an evaluation of the cell sanitary-hygienic conditions because this activity is not conducted in the institution.
What about the disciplinary sanctions, Gheorghe Petic was deprived of the right to visits for a period of 3 months, sanction against which the claimant made and appeal. What about the rest, access to packages, correspondence, telephone was not restricted.
People’s Advocate recommended stopping any forms of abuse, identifying the possibility to remove Gheorghe Petic of that cell, evaluation of the sanitary-hygienic conditions of the cell of post no. 13 (basement), ensuring quality and efficiency of medical care services provided to Petic, suspension of activity of cells of post no. 13, as far as possible or identifying some efficient measures for eradication of abundant dampness. The recommendations were accepted by the administration of the Penitentiary no. 13.
Department for human rights promotion
and communication
