Scientific works written by prisoners, in the attention of anti-corruption prosecutors
The Romanian Justice Minister wants to eliminate a legal loophole that allows convicts to reduce their jail terms for every book of academic value that they have published.
Roxana Vasile, 13.01.2016, 14:12
Once behind bars, an increasing number of white-collar prisoners such as politicians and businessmen seem to be finding a new vocation — that of authors of scientific books. If in 2010 Romania’s prisoners were able to produce only one scientific paper per year, in 2014 there were 90 papers issued while the number of papers in 2015 jumped to a record of 340. There are prisoners who wrote as many as 10 scientific papers in 18 months alone, some others who managed to write 180 pages in only 12 hours and even more prolific inmates, able to produce a 212-page scientific work in just 6 hours and 40 minutes.
The big number of books written behind bars in a very short time and their questionable scientific value, not to mention the impressive number of prisoners turned writers overnight, have raised serious questions as to what’s really going on there. The fact that the authors of these works are anything but intellectuals has only increased suspicions that we are dealing with a legal loophole. Moreover, there are strong suggestions that many of the books are being written by ghost-writers, or at least heavily guided by outside research assistants. The reason is that, under the Romanian law, prisoners can shave 30 days off their jail terms for every book of scientific value that they have published.
With things clearly out of control, Justice Minister Raluca Pruna has announced she will propose the Government, at their first meeting in February, to abrogate the law through an emergency ordinance. A set o enforcement guidelines will also be presented and hopefully adopted at the same meeting.
Raluca Pruna: “I will hold a public consultation, which is required every time when a law is proposed. It’s obvious that something must be done as soon as possible, and abrogating the law is the first logical step. I will also present, at the same Government meeting, the enforcement guidelines of Law 254/2013 so that it can be passed through a Government order at the same time with the emergency ordinance.”
As for the National Anticorruption Directorate, it has started an investigation into the matter. Prosecutors suspect that a mechanism has been put in place to help reduce the prisoners’ sentence, involving university professors, members of the publishing houses and of the prisons’ management. In order to protect the image of Romanian universities, Education Minister Arian Curaj has in his turn asked for a list of academic staff members who have written recommendations for books written by prisoners.
