July 31, 2019 UPDATE
Investigations into Caracal murders continue
Newsroom, 31.07.2019, 19:59
CARACAL INVESTIGATION The head of the Directorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism Felix-Oliver Bănilă said on Wednesday that the results of the tests run on the bones taken in evidence from the house of the Caracal murder suspect Gheorghe Dincă are still pending. Banila added that no scenario is overlooked at this point in the investigation. There is no proof that any of the victims has been murdered, the anti-mafia chief said. Meanwhile, prosecutors have broadened the investigation and are looking into a possible case of criminal negligence involving the police officer who talked to 15-year-old Alexandra Macesanu, who dialled the emergency number calling for help and saying she had been abducted and raped. The police officer allegedly did not follow standard procedures. The suspect in the Caracal murders, Gheorghe Dinca, was taken to the Penitentiary Hospital in Jilava near Bucharest, to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Gheorghe Dinca, a 60-year-old mechanic from Caracal, admitted on Sunday to having kidnapped, detained, raped and murdered two teenagers. Alexandra Macesanu was reported missing on Wednesday, and on Thursday last week she dialled the emergency number 112, operated by the Special Telecommunications Service, which was unable to trace the call. Police officers took 19 hours to get into the suspects home. 18-year-old Luiza Mihaela Melencu shared the same fate in April, when the family reported her missing. The bodies of the two girls have not yet been found.
MOLDOVA The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Wednesday voted to cancel the mixed electoral system adopted 2 years ago and used for the first time in the parliamentary election of February 24. The next parliamentary elections will therefore use the proportional representation system used in Moldova until this year. The Parliament also approved a substantial lowering of the maximum donations that can be made to political parties during the election campaign, and extended voting abroad to 2 days. Also, according to the amendments to the Election Law, election into Parliament is now possible with at least 5% of the votes, instead of 6%, for political parties, 7% for electoral blocs and 2% for independent candidates.
FESTIVAL More than 200 artists will perform on 10 stages as part of UNTOLD, the largest electronic music festival in Romania, which begins in Cluj-Napoca on Thursday. One of the biggest stages in Europe will be located inside the Cluj Arena. Robbie Williams, scheduled to perform on Sunday, is one of the headliners of the festival, along with Armin van Buuren, David Guetta and 3 Are Legend. The organisers expect 350,000 people from more than 100 countries to attend the shows.
FOOTBALL Romania’s football vice-champions FCSB (former Steaua Bucharest), who won the first leg of the Europa League second round against Armenian side FC Alashkert, 3-0 away from home, will play the return leg at home on Thursday. Also on Thursday, CSU Craiova will play against Honved Budapest at home after drawing nil-all in the first leg, while Romanian Cup winners Viitorul Constanta will play the return leg against KAA Gent, to which it lost 3-6 last week. Romanian champions CFR Cluj on Tuesday advanced to the third preliminary round in Champions League after drawing 2-all against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel away from home. In the first leg CFR defeated Maccabi 1-nil. The team from Cluj will next play Celtic Glasgow of Scotland, which in the previous round ousted Estonia’s Nomme Kalju 5-nil in the first leg and 2-nil in the return leg.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
