The court sentenced the mayor who “forgot” an orphan child in a psychiatrist hospital to two years and six months behind bars. The case caught the attention of prosecutors following the intervention of employees of the Office of the People’s Ombudsperson, IPN reports.
In a press release, the Office of the People’s Ombudsperson says its employees found out about the minor who was held illegally at the psychiatrist hospital in Chisinau during a monitoring visit in November 2014. At that moment, the boy had stayed in the psychiatrist hospital for four months already at a time when the treatment period prescribed by the doctor was of 21 days.
The minor was placed in the psychiatrist hospital by the mayor of the village where this lived. The mayor, who was legally responsible for the care of the boy, “forgot” about him and didn’t take the necessary measures when the treatment period expired.
The Office of the People’s Ombudsperson requested the Prosecutor’s Office to take legal action against the mayor. This was changed, but the ordinary court of law acquitted him. The prosecutors challenged the decision in the Appeals Court and this sentenced the mayor to two years and six months in jail and banned him from holding particular posts for a period of up to five years.
