MP Olesea Stamate expelled from PAS. Parliament will tighten law on parole and amnesty
The National Standing Bureau of the PAS has decided to expel Olesea Stamate from the party and has requested her to resign from her parliamentary position. She is being accused of using her mandate to facilitate a "vicious process" that led to the conditional release of at least two criminals who were sentenced to life imprisonment. This announcement was made by Igor Grosu, the leader of PAS and the Speaker of Parliament.
According to the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), Olesea Stamate, the former head of the Legal, Appointments, and Immunities Commission, allegedly introduced three amendments to the Amnesty Law, which was voted on in 2021. These amendments ultimately facilitated the release of prisoners from incarceration.
The first amendment to the Amnesty Law enabled the possibility of commuting life imprisonment to a 30-year sentence. This change allowed the application of Article 91, paragraph (4), letter b), which permits the conditional release of inmates who have served two-thirds of their sentence.
PAS further explains that the amendment made in July 2022 removed the requirement for life convicts to demonstrate the absence of a risk of recidivism to qualify for amnesty. Additionally, the amendment introduced in November 2022 reinstated the ability to commutate life sentences to 30-year sentences.
Initially, the Amnesty Law did not allow for sentence reduction for life prisoners, according to the ruling party.
"Due to a breach of trust, we voted for a law that was amended by a colleague who is a specialist in the field, and whose good faith was not questioned at the time. We are aware of the serious consequences of this scheme, which has developed over several years," stated Igor Grosu, the Parliament Speaker and leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), on social media.
In today’s parliamentary session, the ruling majority announced that it would vote on legislative amendments aimed at eliminating the possibility of benefiting from both sentence commutation through amnesty and conditional release for life prisoners simultaneously.
PAS requested that law enforcement agencies investigate all individuals involved in this "scheme."
