Doubles sentences for paedophiles

The Ministry of Justice, Mr. Mihajlo Manevski, proposed immediate changes in the Criminal Code and doubled the sentences for child abuse. The immediate changes took place after the meeting of the Government around three weeks ago. Manevski was designated in charge of preparing more severe punishments for sexual assault over children, after it was concluded that the paedophilia in Macedonia was still in progress.

Monday, 10 November 2008

Based on the article of S.K.Delevska, VEST. Photo by pravda.com.mk

The current prescribed sentence of 1-5 years of imprisonment for mediating child prostitution, with the immediate changes proposed was raised to 5-10 years. The sentence of one year imprisonment for making profit from child prostitution was increased to 3-5 years of imprisonment.
 
The lowest current sentence of 4 years of imprisonment for sexual assault over children, from now on should not be less than 8 years. The sentence is also doubled if the act was perpetrated by a parent, teacher, adopter, hence the current minimum of 4 to a maximum of 8 years, has leaped to 10 years of imprisonment.
 
The regulations remained unchanged for the sentence from 10 years to life imprisonment for sexual assault of a child, in cases when the victim received severe injuries and long-term consequences, the sexual assault over a child was conducted by a group of people or the act led to death of the child.
 
The immediate changes took place after the session of the Government around three weeks ago, when the Ministry of Justice was obliged to conduct a survey on the relations between the prosecutors and the judges in the investigation and court procedures against paedophiles. The Government also demanded information on how the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy is taking care of the children victims of paedophilia and whether the parents who neglected their children or let them prostitute were deprived from the right to parenthood. The Ministry of Justice was required to provide accurate data of the number of cases in which the prosecutors in investigation procedures demanded the punitive measure of custody for perpetrators of physical assault over children, and the investigation judges did not approve of their request. This was the first time for the Government, with a conclusion on a session, to ask for detail on a particular criminal act which has an increasing trend. 

According to the information from the service for public relations of the Government, the Ministry of Justice was obliged to submit accurate data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the number of probations and low sentences passed by the judges to paedophiles on which the prosecutors never appealed.
 
The Government says that the Minister of Justice of Republic of Macedonia Mr. Mihajlo Manevski was obliged to prepare even more rigorous punishments for sexual assaults over children, although having done recently, and introduce life imprisonment for paedophiles. The sentences for paedophiles have become drastically rigorous and have been enforced since January 15, 2008, however, the judges still stick to the minimum, rather than the prescribed maximum sentences.
 
By the end of the following month Manevski should have conducted all Government’s conclusions thus intensifying the battle against paedophilia.