Anticorruption prosecutors open case on 'scientific' works of convicts

Prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) have opened on their own motion a case on the works written by convicts; each authorship of a scientific work cuts 30 days of the prison term, according to a law of 2013. 

The DNA suspects offenses of connivance with the perpetrators, namely helping detainees sentenced for corruption and hampering the execution of prison terms pronounced by courts. There are several unnamed suspects who acted together to simulate compliance with the legal provisions on paroling. 

Based on a note of the National Penitentiary Administration and on public data, the prosecutors suspect that this compliance was fake, and the purpose was just to help convicts; some of them thus had or are about to have their prison terms slashed by up to 300 days, the DNA explained in a release to AGERPRES on Tuesday. 

"To take advantage of the [legal] provision, a mechanism has been set up involving several university professors, representatives of publishing houses and members of penitentiary [parole] committees, who acted together so that the convicted individuals appear as authors of scientific works, and the punishments pronounced by courts are considered completed. Several university professors allegedly have issued formal recommendation confirming the alleged scientific relevance of some works, based solely on their title, with no actual contact with the author and without knowing the author's view about the matters to be approached. Such generic recommendations have been allegedly used in some cases in the same form, for multiple scientific works," the DNA release details. 

Accordin to the prosecutors, the context has generated a consistent phenomenon, with 46 allegedly scientific works in progress in December 2015 in the Rahova Penitentiary only.