A recurrent topic
\nin the past 2 years, the developments in the judiciary remain in the focus of
\nRomanian public life. In the last few days, it was not about changes in the
\ncriminal legislation or corruption cases involving high-profile politicians,
\nbut about the candidates for top-level prosecutor positions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Wednesday all
\nthe 4 candidates for prosecutor general of Romania were rejected, with the
\nselection procedure set to be resumed between April 12 and May 8, the Justice
\nMinistry has announced. The decision was made by the line minister, Tudorel
\nToader, who interviewed the candidates and was unimpressed with all of them. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The 4 were the
\nformer chief of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism
\nOffences (DIICOT) Daniel Horodniceanu, the anti-mafia prosecutor Marian Drilea,
\na prosecutor working for the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Brasov Court
\nof Appeals, Gabriela Scutea, and the incumbent prosecutor general, Augustin
\nLazar, whose term in office comes to an end this month and who is seeking a new
\nterm. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Lazar is at the
\nheart of a major scandal with political tinges, after the has been accused of
\nhaving denied parole to several anti-communist dissidents in the ’80s, when he
\nwas a member of the release committee at the Aiud Penitentiary, one of the
\nharshest prisons in the communist repressive system. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
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<\/p>\n
Seen as close to
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis and detested by the leftist power made up of the
\nSocial Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, who also
\naccuse him of abuse in the post-communist years, Lazar says these attacks
\nagainst him are prompted by his candidacy for a new term as prosecutor general.
\nHe also says he has never prosecuted offences against the communist regime, and
\nthat he is not a collaborator or agent of any intelligence service. But his
\nenemies in politics and mass media continue to demand his withdrawal from
\npublic life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Also on
\nWednesday, the Justice Ministry announced that it had not selected any
\ncandidate on behalf of Romania for the position of chief prosecutor of the EU,
\nand this procedure would be resumed as well. The conclusion of the process is
\npostponed both in Bucharest, and in Brussels. The future head of the European
\nPublic Prosecutor’s Office will be appointed by the new European Parliament, to
\nbe elected in May. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In its current
\nconfiguration, the European Parliament backs the former head of the Romanian
\nAnti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, praised as the spearhead of
\nthe fight against corruption by her supporters at home, but challenged by opponents
\nas part of a repressive mechanism. The Council of the EU favours the Frenchman
\nJean Francois Bohnert. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A few round of
\nnegotiations between the 2 European bodies on the topic failed. So after the
\nelections, the new Parliament will have to decide whether to resume talks from
\nscratch, or to continue the negotiations conducted so far.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Both the appointment of a new prosecutor general of Romania, and of the future chief prosecutor of the European Union, have been postponed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":74470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29288,36475,39630,29125,34591],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-brussels","tag-daniel","tag-horodniceanu","tag-iohannis","tag-klaus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n