Separatist Activity, Its Financing and Conspiracy against Moldova, Will Incur Prison Sentences

Separatist actions, as well as their financial support, will be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Parliament will consider the initiative in its final reading next week. The bill also envisages imprisonment for other actions that threaten state security, publika.md reports. Under the bill, separatist activities would be punishable by a fine of up to 250,000 lei or imprisonment of up to 10 years. If accompanied by violence and the use of weapons, the maximum penalty would be 12 years in prison. The authors of the initiative propose a fine of up to 400,000 lei or imprisonment of up to 10 years for establishing an illegal spy organization. The document also envisages punishment for plotting against the Republic of Moldova, i.e. for establishing and maintaining links with a foreign state, aimed against the interests of our country. In this case, it provides for up to 7 years of imprisonment. “This is a series of changes aimed at responding to challenges that the Republic of Moldova has been facing for many years, not to say 30 years. It concerns the investigation and punishment of illegal intelligence activities carried out by people who cannot otherwise be classified in the legal field,” said Olesea Stamate, Head of the Parliamentary Commission on Legal Affairs. Representatives from law enforcement agencies attended the hearing and asked for clarification of some of the concepts in their current version of the bill. “Regarding “serious threat to the security of the state”, we did make a criticism because there is no clarification of the concept of “serious threat”. The “hostile activity” syntagma does not meet the requirement of predictability. For this reason, we believe that this syntagma should be replaced,” said expert Alexandru Morcov. “The creation of an illegal intelligence structure. Here, we may need to be more specific: recruitment, incitement to recruitment. The criminal law should be clear; it is not clear what is meant by “creation”,” said Police Inspectorate Representative Ion Talmazan. As previously reported, speaking at a public debate organized by the Law Commission, representatives of the Information and Security Service explained the need for the amendments with the challenges faced by Moldova. “Unfortunately, for 30 years we have had such problems as treason and espionage. According to the definition and logic of things, a foreigner is someone who is not on your territory, a citizen of a foreign country. And unconstitutional entities do not fall under any criminal law document,” said ISS spokesman Radu Frija. The bill was approved in its first reading at the end of last year. Before the second reading, the document will be finalized in accordance with the suggestions made.