IJ: 134 defendants acquitted in 2016, by 39.58 pct more than in 2015 (DNA control report)

A number of 134 defendants were acquitted in 2016 in corruption files, by 39.59 per cent more than in 2015, reads a report of the Judicial Inspection (IJ), which conducted a thematic control at the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA).

"A number of 134 defendants were acquitted in 2016 in corruption files, by 39.59 per cent more than in 2015, when the number was 96. The same growth resulted when comparing the first quarter of 2017 with the year 2015, when a number of 67 defendants were definitively acquitted in 6 months," reads the report published on Tuesday by the Judicial Inspection.

According to the same source, 6 defendants who were held into custody or under house arrest were definitely acquitted in 2016 compared with just two in 2015, which means a growth of 200 per cent.

"Also, we found an increase of 500 per cent in the number of defendants held into custody or under house arrest in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the first quarter of 2015 and, respectively, a growth of 400 per cent in the number of defendants held into custody or under house arrest in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the first quarter of 2015," mentions the report.