The President held a meeting dedicated to meeting deadlines for the investigation of criminal cases. The working discussion was attended by the Head of the Presidential Administration Sergey Belous, the PMR Prosecutor Anatoly Guretsky, the PMR Investigative Committee Chairman Vyacheslav Brynzar, the PMR Supreme Court Chairman Adrian Penkovsky, the PMR Interior Minister Vitaly Neagu, the Minister of State Security Valery Gebos and the Head of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases Olga Kapinus. Opening the discussion, Vadim Krasnoselsky emphasized that the rights of citizens must be respected in any situation. Detainees suspected of having committed a crime are no exception to this rule. Each of them must be convicted or acquitted within the statutory deadlines. The current legal framework limits the period of investigation of a criminal case to one year. This period in exceptional cases may be extended, but such a decision must be seriously motivated.
Answering the questions of the President, the PMR Investigative Committee Chairman Vyacheslav Brynzar said that there is not a single case in production today, the period of preliminary investigation of which would exceed a year. There is a different situation with the judicial investigation. According to the Chairman of the Supreme Court, there were more than seven dozen protracted cases in 2022 pending over a year. The objective reasons were the restriction on the escort of prisoners: six months – due to coronavirus quarantine, another six months – in connection with the special regimes of terrorist danger that were in force in the republic. The number of such cases has been halved this year. Their consideration is carried out on a priority basis, said Adrian Penkovsky. The prosecutor of the republic noted in turn that compliance with the procedural deadlines by the courts is possible with a high-quality preliminary investigation and effective planning of trials. The prosecutor's office has complaints in both directions. The meeting participants provided concrete examples. The causes of the current situation were discussed in detail. One of the problematic aspects is the shortage of qualified personnel. We talked about measures, the adoption of which would contribute to the solution of existing problems. Recommendations and current instructions were given by the President.
