Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Justice Minister: A young woman was "beaten to a pulp" by police in April for refusing to take her clothes off in front of them

Justice Minister Alexandru Tanase said during a meeting with Moldovan judges that the legal system in Moldova suffers from "moral crisis" and from corruption, especially after the April 2009 events.

Numerous judges allegedly conducted illegal trials of young people in police stations during the repression campaign initiated right after the vandalization of the Parliamentary and Presidential buildings on April 7.

Mr. Tanase also made a disturbing revelation about one particular case in April.

„I spoke with the father of a woman who told me that she was beaten to a pulp for refusing to take her clothes off in front of police officers. So what did the judge do? Instead of telling the prosecutors about this case, he arrested her for five days and sent her to Drochia [Imedia: a town in the North] so that her bruises could heal,” Mr. Tanase noted.

In April, media outlets in Moldova posted a number of testimonies from young people who were beaten severely in police stations. Most of them were young men and women. No police officers have been punished for abuse thus far.

The extent of the abuse remains unclear, however, since many young people are afraid to come out and share their experiences because they fear for their safety.

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