07/03/14
The Moldovan initiative on imposing the criminal responsibility on “separatists” and “extremists” can complicate further bilateral dialogue between the PMR and the RM, as well as constitute a serious impediment to continuation of the negotiating process. This opinion has been expressed by the Head of the Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie Nina Shanski at today's meeting with the Representative on political issues from Moldova Yevgeny Karpov.According to news reports, the draft law on severe penalties for promoting separatism and extremism has been recently registered in the RM's Parliament. The authors of the draft propose to introduce into the criminal legislation quite tough penalties for calls for separatism comparable to the penalties for terrorism: up to twenty years in prison, ban on activities of organizations, parties and even depriving of citizenship of those who promote ideas of separatism. At that, the term “separatism” itself is used in the draft law in a peculiar way and quite ambiguously.Nina Shtanski supposed the legal content of the document may allow to qualify most of people in Pridnestrovie as criminals.The Political Representative urged the Moldovan side to refrain from such initiatives, and also called them provocative, escalating the situation and threatening to undermine the basis of the dialogue at the bilateral and multilateral levels.Nina Shtanski expressed hope that in the near future the Pridnestrovian side will receive comprehensive clarifications on presenting this initiative in Moldova's Parliament.
