REPORT on the case of Alexandru Botu from Prunaru (municipality of Bujoreni, county of Teleorman)

1. On 15 March 2000, two APADOR-CH representatives went to Prunaru village to conduct investigations related Alexandru Botu's allegations concerning an abuse perpetrated by police officers from the Bujoreni police station.

2. The Botus' account

On 14 February 2000, Alexandru Botu, aged 40, went to work for a neighbour. When he finished working, he went to S.C. Dina, a shop in the Prunaru village. The shop, which also serves as a pub, is owned by the mayor's brother. Both the mayor Niculae Dina, the village priest, and his brother are feared by the villagers, who say they are on very friendly terms with the Bujoreni police officers, whom they call whenever they want the latter to apply "punishments" to those who "upset" them. Moreover, the police officers also "educate" the children on the village roads, slapping them when they are "disrespectful".

Two police officers were in the shop that day. Alexandru Botu was not aware of that. He stopped in front of the shop and talked to some acquaintances; they parted and, while he was crossing the road, he was stopped by the police chief and his deputy and led back to the shop. The owner closed the shop and drew the blindfolds, then left the shop. The police officers punched and kicked Botu in the shop for about half an hour. This incident occurred between 2 and 3 p.m. A villager, who heard Botu scream, went to Botu's place and returned with his wife, who banged on the door and asked the owner to step in lest "five children should be left without a father", but to no avail. Finally, the door opened and Mrs. Botu saw her husband on the floor; his nose, ears and mouth were bleeding and his shirt was full of blood. The only police officer in the room was the deputy chief, non-commissioned officer Sandu (?). His chief, non-commissioned officer Cornel Bicu, had left. His wife tried to find out why her husband had been beaten and learned that Botu "had spoken too loudly in front of the shop and had disturbed them while they were drinking".

The shop owner refused to help Botu get home lest the villager should believe that "he had beaten him". It should be mentioned that, in January 2000, the owner had beaten Botu's brother, who was afraid to lodge a complaint and even to go to the doctor.

Botu's wife succeeded in stopping a cart and taking her husband home. Botu's pains became unbearable during the night; consequently, the next day, he was taken to the Alexandria county hospital and diagnosed with multiple injuries, two broken ribs included (medical file no. 4727/81). Botu was released from hospital on 22 February and reported immediately to the Alexandria forensic laboratory. He was issued medical certificate no. 142/C/410 of 22 February, which mentions "a 3/1 centimetre purple-yellow bruise under the right eye; a 6/6 centimetre bruise under the right clavicle; a 15/8 green-yellow bruise on the right side of the chest; a 3/4 centimetre green-yellow bruise on the left side of the chest", etc. The certificate concluded "Requires 17-18 days of medical attention". It should also be mentioned that on the day that Botu was interviewed by APADOR-CH, one month after the event, Alexandru Botu was still unwell, his whole body hurt and he was unable to make any effort.

Alexandru Botu's children confirmed that they had seen their father full of blood when their mother had brought him home.

After release from hospital, Alexandru Botu was invited to report to the police station. As he was very sick, his wife accompanied by one of his daughters went instead. They were received by the deputy chief, who suggested that Botu should be sent to a clinic where some of the police officer's relatives worked. Botu's wife turned down this offer. The chief deputy also offered to help the family with money, but this offer was also turned down. The police officer was as cynical as to offer the Botus' money "to sue him in Alexandria", although he knew that, according to the law, only the Military Prosecutor's Office was competent to prosecute such cases.

The Botus' cannot explain this incident. Except for some fines (frequent in the village) for illegal fishing, Alexandru Botu had had no problems with the police officers. They suspect that, after the beating his brother had taken from the shop owner, when Alexandru Botu had reproached the latter his violence, this had "upset" the attacker, who resorted to the police officers' "services", as usual.

3. Witnesses' accounts

Klemen Alexandru Cuturescu, aged 17, had accompanied Alexandru Botu through the whole incident, except for the beating he took in the shop. He is one of the few eyewitnesses who had the courage to tell exactly what he had seen. He knows what happened up to the point when Botu was taken to the shop, he saw how the shop was locked and heard the victim scream. This could be the reason for which he was invited to the police station where he was questioned, then he was asked to sign a declaration that… he did not attend school! The young man is illiterate, so he has no idea what the declaration really contained. Only afterwards did he find it strange that he was asked to sign a declaration about school attendance.

Another witness - T.P. - saw the police officers take Botu from the road and drag him into the shop. Later on, he saw him leave the shop with his wife and declared that Botu "could hardly walk". He did not remember seeing blood - anyway, he had seen Botu from a distance. The APADOR-CH representatives understood that he was too afraid to tell more.

A third witness, who insisted that his name be kept secret, said he had known what was going on in the shop, that he had seen Botu leave the shop and that the latter’s ears were bleeding and his face and clothes were full of blood.

Other eyewitnesses were visited by the police officers and advised to "keep their mouths shut".

The villagers heard the police officers say either that they had just "slapped" Botu several times because he was "drunk and aggressive" or that they had "saved his life" because he was trying to cross the road "under the influence of alcohol". None of these versions could justify the numerous bruises and the broken ribs mentioned both by the county hospital and the Alexandria forensic laboratory.

Alexandru Botu lodged a complaint with the Bucharest Territorial Military Prosecutor’s Office , registered under no. 213/2000.

Conclusions:

- APADOR-CH considers that the chief and the deputy chief of the Bujoreni police (the territorial administrative unit Prunaru village belongs to) can be charged at least with inhuman treatment against Alexandru Botu;

- Given the reactions of many villagers, until the case is solved by the Military Prosecutor’s Office, APADOR-CH urges IGP to suspend or at least transfer from Bujoreni all the police officers involved;

- The association asks the Military Prosecutor’s Office to conclude their investigations as soon as possible, given the constant fear the Bujoreni villagers live under.

Manuela Stefanescu
Valerian Stan