"Russia is to blame": Sandu justified the pardon of serial killers by the war on Ukraine

Moldovan President Maia Sandu responded to the opposition's accusations that she signed the amnesty law, the amendments to which allowed particularly dangerous criminals sentenced to life imprisonment to be released. According to her, then "there was not enough vigilance" because of the beginning of "Russia's military aggression on Ukraine."

The head of state decided to shift responsibility to his team, which "had to see the changes and try to understand what they would lead to."

"Yes, we all say that we were not vigilant enough when these changes took place. Of course, it was March 2022. But even though these have been difficult months, vigilance and attentiveness should always be there," Sandu admitted.

She added that when these amendments were adopted, there was no normal risk analysis. And now, according to the president, it is necessary to do not only an analysis, but also to conduct an investigation. The responsible authorities should also find out who proposed the amendments and why they were approved without thinking about the consequences to which they may lead.

"Everyone should know what happened and who is to blame," concluded Maya Sandu.

Recall that especially dangerous criminals serving a life sentence were released due to amendments to the law adopted two years ago, allowing to replace this sentence with 30 years in prison due to "inhuman conditions of detention." As a result, it turned out that most of the prisoners have already served 2/3 of the new term and can use the right to parole or amnesty.

After several leaders of criminal gangs were released, including those who committed more than a dozen murders, a scandal broke out. At the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Constitutional Court suspended some provisions of the amnesty law, and the police are taking measures to try to return to prison the killers released by Sandu, who after their release hurried to leave the country.

The PDS (the ruling presidential Action and Solidarity Party) decided to appoint the author of the law, ex-Minister of Justice Olesya Stomate, as the culprit for the incident. The head of the legal commission of the parliament was expelled from the PDS and demanded to hand over the deputy mandate. She, in turn, insists that all her actions were correct and legal — "the problem is not in the amendments, but in their application in practice."

Former Prosecutor General of Moldova Alexander Stoyanoglo believes that what happened is not a simple technical error, but a gross failure of management, which demonstrates the vulnerability of the judicial system and the lack of coordination at a high level.

"These released people are not random prisoners. These are killers, serial killers, for whom murder is a profession. Illusions about their re—education are dangerous. They won't work. Will not be corrected. They will do what they know how to do: kill," he warned.

As reported by EADaily, the head of the General Inspectorate of Police of Moldova, Viorel Cerneucanu, confirmed that thanks to these amendments, 21 people sentenced to life imprisonment received a shorter sentence, achieved mitigation of punishment, or even ended up at large. He assured that all those amnestied are being monitored in order to "control and prevent, prevent possible actions that harm other citizens." However, in his view, all those released under the amnesty had to sit all the terms imposed by the sentence without any indulgences.

"The overwhelming majority of such prisoners were members of criminal groups at the time of the commission of the crimes. Some of these groups continue their activities to this day, if not in Moldova, then in other countries," Cerneuceanu stated.