This Letter concerns the arbitrary and involuntary transfer by the Moldovan authorities of seven Turkish teachers into Turkey on 6 September 2018 in Chisinau, Moldova.
On 6 September 2018 seven teachers of Turkish origin working in the Moldovan network of schools “Orizont” were apprehended by the Moldovan security forces and, without offering the apprehended individuals any chance of legal recourse, were transferred by force to Turkey. In Turkey they were sentenced to long prison terms for alleged connections with the President Erdogan’s enemies.
In June 2019 the European Court of Human Rights found this action to be in violation with the European Convention of Human Rights (art. 5 (1) and (8) – case of Ozdil et al. v. Republic of Moldova, application no. 42305/18). Despite ordering a financial compensation to the victims of this grave violation, the ruling of the Court did not look into the issue of specific perpetrators of this horrendous crime, due to the nature and limitations of the Court’s mandate.
The Moldovan national authorities were unwilling to properly investigate this crime. A criminal case reluctantly initiated in this regard ended up classified as secret by the Prosecutor’s Office and no significant details were made public thereafter. Recently, the Moldova’s Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo during a TV show announced that the court found the only indicted individual – former head of Moldovan Security Service Vasile Botnari – guilty of the crime and sentenced him conditionally to an unnamed term in prison with suspension of execution. In other words, this only individual remained free and unpunished. Other involved individuals were cleared by the Prosecutor’s Office of the charges.
Thus, the Moldovan authorities did everything possible to cover-up this crime and effectively not punish anyone for committing it.
We, the people of Moldova, hereby ask you to not let this crime go unpunished.
In compliance with the international human rights standards and the pledged commitment of your governments to these standards, we ask your governments to designate the following individuals directly associated with the above-described violation and its cover-up:
· Vasile Botnari, head of the Moldovan Security and Information Service at the time of the crime. Mr. Botnari pled guilty in this crime (according to the General Prosecutor Stoianoglo), and is said to directly order and coordinate the entire operation.
· Andrian Candu, chair of the Moldovan Parliament at the time of the crime. The Moldovan Parliament under the tight leadership of Mr. Candu failed to oversee the operation of the Security and Information Service and investigate the crime (in Moldova Security and Information Service is under the formal authority and supervision of the Parliament).
· Olga Poalelungi, head of the Moldovan Bureau of Migration and Asylum at the time of the crime, which/who co-participated in the operation through issuance of supporting documentation.
· Pavel Filip, prime-minister of the Moldovan Government at the time of the crime. The head of the Government, under whose authority operated the Moldovan Bureau of Migration and Asylum, failed to oversee the operation of the Bureau of Migration and Asylum and investigate the crime.
· Alexandr Stoianoglo, Moldovan Prosecutor General since late 2019. Under his direction the Prosecutor’s Office did not ensure the transparency of the justice process over the perpetrator(s) of this crime, did not bring to justice all those engaged, and did not request and insist on the adequate punishment for the perpetrator(s).
AND
(1) To issue a permanent ban on travel of the designated individuals to your countries;
(2) Identify and arrest property and assets of the designated individuals in your countries;
(3) Prohibit any business and private dealings and transactions with the designated individuals in your countries.
Your governments can do what the Moldovan authorities are unwilling and failed to do – deliver some justice to the victims of this grave crime and re-establish the trust of people in human rights and the role of the international and European community in protecting them.
If not designated by you, these wrongdoers will be free to come to your countries, do business and deal with your people as usual, as if nothing happened. This will be a true betrayal of the seven humans, Turkish teachers, and of the ideals of human rights and rule of law, said to be the cornerstones of the European continent and international global order.
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