CHISINAU. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic has described the criminalization of separatism by Moldova as "an act of aggression."
"We view the bill adopted by the Moldovan parliament to give grounds for politically motivated criminal prosecution of practically every resident of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic as an act of aggression aimed to undermine the negotiating process and a deliberate prelude for mass violations of human rights," the Transdniestrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Amendments to the Moldovan Criminal Code, which criminalize "separatism," "conspiracy against Moldova" and similar crimes passed the second reading in the Moldovan parliament on Thursday.
The amendments augment the Moldovan Criminal Code with such notions as "separatism," "anti-constitutional subject," "illegal information entity," "serious threat to the security of the Republic of Moldova," and "illegal gathering of information." Such crimes are punishable with two to five years of imprisonment for individuals and a fine of 150,000 to 250,000 lei for legal entities. The penalty is more severe for officials, who can be imprisoned for seven to 12 years and prohibited from occupying certain positions or engaging in certain types of activity for seven to 15 years.
"Separatist actions" imply "actions aimed at separating part of the Moldovan territory in violation of national laws or international agreements, a party to which Moldova is, as well as distribution of objects, production and/or distribution in any form and by any means of materials and information inciting such actions." "A conspiracy against Moldova" is defined as "the establishment and maintenance of contacts with a foreign state, a foreign organization, or their representatives for criminal purposes."
The Transdniestrian administration strongly opposed the amendments. Transdniestrian political representative at negotiations with Chisinau Vitaly Ignatyev said all members of the Transdniestrian administration would fall under the amendments, making the continuation of Transdniestrian settlement talks impossible.
The Transdniestrian Foreign Ministry pointed in a statement to "the risk of destruction of the entire negotiating framework and the threat of escalation of tensions." "Moldova has been pressuring Transdniestrians for decades by politicized criminal prosecution, which is an acute problem on the current agenda of the international negotiating process," it said.
According to Tiraspol, "the Moldovan negotiator twice turned down the Transdniestrian calls for the soonest meeting of political representatives to discuss this problem." "The Moldovan side agreed to schedule the meeting only for February 17, as it waited for the final approval of repressive articles. Such avoidance and fear of discussing pressing issues devalues the usefulness of contacts with the office of the Moldovan political representative," it said.
Tiraspol warned Chisinau of "responsibility for any actions threatening rights and freedoms" of Transdniestrian citizens. "The full responsibility for escalation of tensions lies with the Moldovan side," the ministry said.