In 2015, Romania saw one
\nof its biggest tragedies. A fire caused by fireworks broke out at a Bucharest
\nnightclub on 30th October that year, with 26 people dying on the
\nnight as a result and a further 38 in its aftermath, in hospitals in Romania
\nand abroad. It all happened in just a few minutes, after the ceiling and the
\npillars of the club were quickly engulfed by flames. As they tried to flee the
\nclub through the only existing door, the people trampled on one another. The victims
\ninclude musicians, photographers, journalists and Romanian and foreign students.
\nSome 150 people were also wounded. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Inspectorate for Emergency
\nSituations, the fire fighters, the police and everyone who was at the site desperately
\ntried to save the young people caught in the fire. However, mistakes were made
\nand the decision-making was chaotic, as no one was prepared for a disaster of
\nthis scale. The main shareholder of the club and two associates were arrested. Other
\ninquiries were also conduced later, with the result that various officials from
\nthe local administration, including sector mayor Cristian Popescu-Piedone, were
\nindicted. Arrests were also made at the firm that provided the fireworks and at
\nthe Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A trial began and in
\nDecember 2019 all the defendants received sentences that included prison time
\nand the payment of damages to the victims amounting to some 50 million euros. Later,
\nthe defendants’ lawyers appealed the sentences in court so the case is now
\nseeing some changes. The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled on Monday to split the
\nColectiv case in two, with the former sector mayor, the local administration officials
\nand the firefighters to be tried separately from the club owners. The court is
\nto decide in autumn if this also entails a change in the legal classification
\nof offences for the former mayor and other defendants, which could result in
\neasier sentences should they be convicted. The trial goes on with respect to
\nthe three owners of the club and the technicians who were in charge of the
\nfireworks. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The move to sever the
\ntrial was met with discontent by lawyers, who are saying this is an attempt to
\ndelay the trial and arguing that the cases were initially severed before the court
\nmoved for a joint trial. The plaintiffs in the civil suit – the survivors and families
\nof the victims – protested against this solution in court. Moreover, they
\ncondemned in a public letter the judges’ move to change the legal classification
\nof the defendants’ deeds. They argue that the latter’s sentences will be light
\nand insignificant, disproportionate to the gravity of the acts committed and of
\ntheir consequences, which would cast a deep shadow on the entire process of justice
\nin Romania. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Bucharest Court of Appeal moves for the severance of the Colectiv trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":83917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29431,29420,29283],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-89264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-colectiv","tag-fire","tag-trial"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n