Head of Moldova's National Penitentiary Administration resigns from office

The head of the National Penitentiary Administration (ANP), Anatolie Falca, resigned from his position today. The decision was made at a demand by Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

Following the resignation of the ANP chief, the leadership of the Ministry of Justice issued an order appointing Alexandru Adam as interim head.

The demand of Prime Minister Dorin Recean comes in the context of the enforcement of the Amnesty Law, voted in 2021, which eventually allowed the release of dangerous inmates from prison.

"I demanded the immediate resignation of the head of the National Penitentiary Administration. ANP is precisely the institution that must take into account all the risks of releasing inmates, not allow abuses to happen," Dorin Recean said.

At the same time, the parliament today voted a draft law aimed at clarifying the enforcement of articles 91 and 92 of the Criminal Code, in the context of amnesty. According to the new interpretation, individuals whose sentences were commuted from life imprisonment to a fixed term will no longer be eligible for early conditional release.

The proposed amendments aim to eliminate the possibility for the same person to simultaneously benefit from both sentence commutation and early conditional release. The draft law stipulating this clarification will also apply to those who have already been conditionally released.

Also, at the today’s plenary meeting, the lawmakers voted, in the first reading, a draft law meant to ensure the correct and efficient enforcement of the provisions of the Criminal Code, the Amnesty Law in connection with the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of Moldova’s Independence and the Criminal Procedure Code.