Radio România Internațional

Tag: criminal investigation

  • March 1, 2025

    March 1, 2025

    ROMANIA – MOLDOVA RELATIONS – Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, on Saturday morning was received by his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, as part of an official visit to Chișinău. Ilie Bolojan also met with Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean, and brought a floral tribute to the Stephen the Great monument in the Moldovan capital. The Romanian head of state traveled to Moldova to further consolidate the Romanian-Moldovan partnership and express Romania’s willingness to continue support and cooperation with its neighbor. On February 12, shortly after being sworn in as interim president, Ilie Bolojan phoned the Moldovan president, discussing ways to continue close cooperation and bilateral relations.

     

    WHITE HOUSE MEETING – International leaders, including Romania’s interim president, Ilie Bolojan, have reacted to the falling-out between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, most of them appealing to calm and maintaining support for Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Volodymyr Zelensky to be strong and courageous because he is not alone, Reuters reports. Messages of encouragement for Ukraine also came from Poland, Norway, Canada, Czechia, Spain, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. In turn, French president Emmanuel Macron recalled that Russia is the aggressor in the current conflict, and the Ukrainian people are the victim, fighting for both their independence and the security of Europe. A similar message was conveyed by the president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. Italy’s Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, said that in such moments unity is needed and called for the organization of a US – EU summit. Following talks between Zelenskyy and Trump at the Oval Office, the interim president of Romania posted a message on X, arguing that “the security of Ukraine is crucial for the security of Europe” and that “we must stand united to fight for our values, freedom and peace”. The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, during which vice-president J.D. Vance also intervened, took place at the Oval Office of the White House and ended with a dispute. Volodymyr Zelensky explained that, starting 2014, when Russia first attacked Ukraine, until the full-scale invasion of 2022, there were numerous attempts to regulate the conflict and ceasefires, but Russia violated its commitments every time. Therefore, Zelenskyy asked president Donald Trump not to accept compromises from Vladimir Putin. The two American leaders responded harshly, accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not being grateful and not thanking the United States for the support received and of risking to start World War III. As a result of growing tension, the agreement on the joint exploitation of Ukrainian rare earths, requested by president Donald Trump as compensation for the support provided so far by the United States, was not signed, and the joint press conference of the two leaders was canceled.

     

    ARREST – Mercenary Horaţiu Potra, his son and his brother were added to an international wanted list by the Romanian Police, after the Supreme Court decided to have them arrested. At the same time, 16 other defendants have already been placed under pre-trial arrest, and two individuals were put on house arrest. All suspects are accused of actions against the constitutional order. Additionally, Horaţiu Potra is accused of violating the weapons and ammunition regime and the explosives regime. According to some sources, the three fugitives are currently in Dubai. Prosecutors claim Horaţiu Potra and his group of mercenaries sought to infiltrate the protests organized immediately after the annulment of last year’s presidential election in Romania, in order to create chaos. The action plan was allegedly devised by former independent candidate Călin Georgescu and his associates in a secret meeting shortly after decision of the Constitutional Court. As for Călin Georgescu, he was placed under pre-trial arrest for 60 days on Wednesday. He is being investigated for several crimes, including incitement to actions against the constitutional order.

     

    MĂRȚIȘOR – Romanians on March 1 celebrate the coming of spring, popularly known as Mărțișor. This popular celebrate was first documented in the early 20th century in Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and elsewhere in the Balkans. In Romania, Mărțișor was associated with protection against disease and misfortune. A silver coin was usually tied with a red-and-white piece of string to children’s hands, to ward off disease. 12 days later, the coin is tied to a branch so the tree can bloom, or it is tied to cattle’s horns, to prevent disease. Picked up by urban culture, Mărțișor became a very fashionable holiday. People buy silver or gold trinkets to give to their loved ones. Mărțișor was added to the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list in 2017 following a joint application from Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. (VP)

  • August 20, 2018 UPDATE

    August 20, 2018 UPDATE

    INVESTIGATION
    – Hearings will be as of Monday at the Prosecutor General’s Office in
    connection with the anti-government meeting organised by the Romanians living
    abroad, on August 10. We recall the military prosecutors have opened a criminal
    case for such crimes as abusive conduct, abuse of office and professional
    misconduct, regarding the way in which the gendarmes intervened during the
    protest. The Interior Minister Carmen Dan has apologized to all those who
    suffered because of violence. The opposition considers however that minister
    Dan should have resigned. Also on Monday the Bucharest Police announced the gun
    stolen from a gendarme on August 10 has been recovered.




    FIGHTER JETS – Two F-22 Raptor US fighter jets and a KC-135
    Stratotanker aircraft landed on Monday at the airbase in Campia Turzii, to join
    a joint military exercise with F-16 fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force as
    well as with F-15 aircraft temporarily stationed as part of the 2018 Dacian
    Eagle military exercise. Visiting the airbase in Campia Turzii, Defense
    Minister Mihai Fifor said Bucharest has proved it is a reliable and trusted
    ally. In turn, US Ambassador Hans Klemm said Romania is the only NATO state in
    the region to host such aircraft. The American official went on to say that the
    United States is proud of the progress Romania has made in terms of military
    advancement and interoperability.




    DNA – The Romanian justice minister, Tudorel
    Toader, has announced that no prosecutor has applied for the position of chief
    prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Candidacies can be
    submitted by August 24, and the new procedure should be finalized by September
    6. This is a new selection organised by the Justice Ministry, after Tudorel
    Toader rejected all the four candidacies that had been submitted. The minister
    is optimistic that there will be a candidate for this position until the
    deadline expires. The position of chief prosecutor of the National
    Anti-Corruption Directorate has become vacant after Laura Codruţa Kövesi was revoked
    by a decree issued on July 9 by President Klaus Iohannis, who implemented a
    decision by the Constitutional Court.




    50 YEARS OF DACIA – The car-manufacturing plant in
    Mioveni, southern Romania, on Monday celebrated 50 years since the first Dacia
    car was made, during which time production has exceeded 6 million units. The
    first car was produced on August 20, 1968 and was a Dacia 1100 make,
    manufactured under the Renault R8 brand. A year later, the Dacia 1300 entered
    production, which made history for the next 30 years. In 1999, Dacia and the
    plant in Mioveni were taken over by Renault. At present, Dacia is the biggest
    company in Romania with a turnover of 5 billion euros in 2017. Dacia cars are
    exported to 44 countries on four continents. The top markets in the first half
    of 2018 were France, Germany and Italy.




    PEASANT CIVILIZATION – Săpânţa, in the northern Romanian
    county of Maramureş, which has been designated the Peasant Cultural Capital of
    the Romanians around the world, has been the venue for a cultural project titled The
    United Villages of Romania. The project has been carried out jointly with
    Radio Romania. This annual meeting of villages, this year devoted to the Great
    Union Centennial, has been attended by 800 artists, singers and folk groups
    from 30 county capitals, as well as from the Romanian communities around the
    world. The initiator of the project is
    an Irishman who has been living in Romania for 24 years, Peter Hurley. He says
    he has been impressed by the fact that the old Romanian civilization is
    surviving wherever there are Romanians.




    OLYMPIAD – Romania’s computer science team won
    four medals, of which two gold, at the 25th edition of the Computer
    Science Olympiad in Central Europe, hosted over August 12-18 by Warsaw, Poland.
    According to the Education Ministry, Romania ranked first in the unofficial
    medal standings, the same number of medals as Poland. This year’s edition
    brought together 55 contestants from 13 countries. The first edition of the
    Olympiad was held in Cluj-Napoca, north-western Romania, in 1994. In another
    development, Romania’s Olympic delegation at the International Earth Science
    Olympiad in Thailand won four medals, one silver and three bronze. The 12th
    edition of the Olympiad was held over August 8-17 and it brought together 154
    contestants from 38 countries.




    (Translated
    by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)

  • November 23, 2016 UPDATE

    November 23, 2016 UPDATE

    BUDGET REVISION— The Romanian government on Wednesday approved a second budget revision this year. According to finance minister, Anca Dragu, this is a positive one and reflects the efficient way in which the public money was spent, as well as the fact that Romania registered economic growth. The revision will bring more money to such fields as healthcare, investments, direct payments in agriculture and will also support some projects and policies in the domain of education and social assistance, financed by the local public administration. The revision was intended to redistribute funds which can no longer be spent by the end of 2016, to assure the financing of programs that are currently being developed and is based on the idea of maintaining the budget deficit target below 3% of the GDP.



    MICROSOFT 2 CASE – The National Anticorruption Directorate on Wednesday called for the Romanian president’s approval in order to start criminal investigation against former ministers Dan Nica, Alexandru Athanasiu and Adriana Ţicău, for abuse of office in the “Microsoft 2” case. Dan Nica was minister of communications and IT (2000-2004), Silvia Adriana Ţicău, was successively, state secretary, minister of communications and IT (in the 2003-2004 period) and Alexandru Athanasiu, education and research minister. They are accused of involvement in the initiation, approval and backing of draft executive decisions which led to the signing of a Microsoft licensing contract with Fujitsu Siemens and expanding the contract to include Microsoft educational products. The prejudice in this case stands at some 67 million dollars.



    INVESTIGATION — 11 former and acting members of the Board of Administrators of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, including the President Director General Ovidiu Miculescu, are investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office with the Sector 1 Court, under suspicion of abuse of office and conflict of interest. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, between July 2011 and January 2014, they were allegedly involved in making decisions during the meetings of the Board of Administrators of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation when service-providing contracts were signed, based on which they allegedly obtained undue benefits worth some 400,000 lei, the equivalent of some 90,000 Euro. The communiqué issued by the Prosecutor’s Office says the continuation of criminal investigation is a stage in the criminal case, regulated under the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at creating the legal framework for collecting evidence, an activity that can under no circumstance violate the presumption of innocence principle. Several searches were made last week, at the headquarters of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, as well as at the legal and actual headquarters of a company that the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation did business with. A communiqué issued on Tuesday by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation reads the investigations are related to the term of the former Board of Administrators.



    PILOT STRIKE — Almost 900 flights by German flagship company Lufthansa have been cancelled, around one third of the total, including five return flights between Munich and Bucharest, as well as three return flights between Bucharest and Frankfurt. The protest will continue until Friday. The pilot strike will be affecting over 100,000 people. The pilot union is demanding raises worth an average of 3.7%, rejecting the offer made by management, amounting to 2.5%. The union turned down the offer, saying it amounted to a salary freeze. This wage war has been going on since 2014, with the union organizing over 14 protests. On Tuesday, 60 flights were cancelled for Eurowings, Lufthansas low cost division.



    HIGHWAY — The Romanian Ministry of Transportation announced it approved the project to build the highway linking the cities of Pitesti and Sibiu for its entire length, 123 km, at a cost of 1.6 billion Euro. This is the last segment of the fourth European corridor, and is supposed to be finalized in 2021, a year earlier than the master plan. This project had been in limbo for a long time, as the state could not decide on a method of financing, which hindered national development. The construction of this segment was demanded by car builders Renault and Ford, that have automotive plants in Romania, criticizing the lack of a high speed road as part of this European route.(Translated by C. Cotoiu and D. Vijeu)

  • November 21, 2016 UPDATE

    November 21, 2016 UPDATE

    INVESTIGATION Anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania have placed under criminal investigation former Education Minister Alexandru Athanasiu for abuse of office in the Microsoft 2 file on computer licenses in schools. Also on Monday in the same file, two former directors of Microsoft Romania, Silviu Hotaran and Ovidiu Artopolescu, as well as businessman Claudiu Florica were placed on conditional release for aggravated conspiracy to abuse of office. In the same file, Chief-prosecutor Kovesi has called for notifying the Chamber of Deputies for launching criminal investigation in the case of MP Eugen Bejinariu, minister for the coordination of the government’s secretariat general between 2003 — 2004 for abuse of office in aggravated form during his term in office. In the Microsoft case, in October, a former communications minister Gabriel Sandu, a former mayor of the town of Piatra Neamt, Gheorghe Stefan, and businessmen Dorin Cocoş and Dumitru Nicolae received final prison sentences. The court decided to confiscate more than 17 million euros from the 4 aforementioned persons. The total damage caused to the state budget in the contract for granting IT licenses in 2004 and 2008 rises up to roughly 67 million dollars. The Microsoft case also involves several former ministers from the Social Democratic and Liberal Democratic parties. The total damage in their case has not yet been established, says the chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi.



    SESSION The European Parliament’s plenary session started on Monday in Strasbourg. The relationship of the EU with Turkey, the EU common security strategy and the trade agreement with Canada are some of the issues to be analysed until November 24. The MEPs will debate and vote on a draft resolution through which they ask for the consolidation of cooperation between the national armed forces. The resolution provides for the allocation by all member states of 2% of the GDP for defence. Another important draft resolution to be voted is related to the aggressive anti-European propaganda fuelled by the Islamic State and Russia. The MEPs also want to ask for the opinion of the European Court of Justice on the trade agreement, which the EU and Canada signed in October in Brussels.



    CONDOLENCES The Romanian Foreign Ministry has conveyed sincerest condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic train crash in India also voicing compassion and solidarity with the Indian people and authorities. Over 140 people died in a rail crash on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh. In spite of its serious security flaws India’s rail network remains the main means of transportation in the country. India saw its worst train crash in 1981 when 800 people were killed when their train fell into a river.



    APPROVAL The Romanian Government will approve this week the 2nd budget adjustment in 2016. The healthcare, development and agriculture domains will receive more money for funding ongoing projects. Supplementary funds will also be allotted for policies in the education and social welfare fields that will be funded through the local public administration and also for closing down several mines included in the Hunedoara Energy Compound.

  • Criminal investigation against the Sky News journalists

    Criminal investigation against the Sky News journalists

    A cheap journalist trick has turned into a huge judicial scandal with international echoes. The prosecutors of Romanias Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) started criminal investigation against three crew-members of the Sky News British Channel who made a report on alleged gun running in Romania.



    The accusation levelled against them is communication of false information. Judicial sources say the prosecutors will call for the hearing of the British journalists by an international rogatory commission. Unanimously deemed a gross manipulation act, the pseudo-investigation made by the British reporters might affect the Romanian states security- this is how the Court of Appeal in Bucharest motivates its ruling on temporary taking into custody the Romanian citizens featured in the staged report and of the person who intermediated the alleged deal.



    Sent behind bars for 30 days, the Romanian nationals are accused of setting up an organised criminal group, violating the regime of arms and ammunition and of communicating false information. The inquiry shows however that, in reality, the so-called journalistic investigation was not based on real facts and circumstances, but staged by the journalists, who presented false data and information as true.



    The journalists allegedly knew the three Romanians presented in the report were not gun dealers, but simple hunters, who legally owned the arms featured in the report. Furthermore, the fake dealers were specifically requested on July 31, when the report was filmed, to speak the Romanian language, although their mother tongue is Hungarian. They were equally requested to use phrases dictated by the British journalists. According to their testimony, they would have received some 2,000 Euros for the whole acting performance.



    The whole story is even more deplorable as Sky News was considered a trustworthy source of information, and the rigour of British journalists is always evoked with respect by the younger free press in Romania. The report has been taken over and re-broadcast by mass media institutions in other countries, and according to prosecutors, the facts presented in the report have generated bad sentiment against Romania, as well as a felling of insecurity among Romanians.



    A country cant be denigrated without proof, warns PM Dacian Ciolos, whereas justice minister Raluca Pruna has said the Romanian state should react. Already with their backs against the wall, and the target of an avalanche of accusations for not observing a set of elementary deontological norms, both the Sky News British Channel and the producer of the report, Stuart Ramsay, further claim the report is real, although concordant accounts from London claim they cant convince even their loyal public.

  • The Colectiv tragedy, again in the limelight

    The Colectiv tragedy, again in the limelight

    The death toll of the Colectiv nightclub fire has risen to 64, after a new patient with burn injuries died in Bucharest. Aged 21, the young man was a student at the Economic Science Academy in Bucharest, and was the last of all the patients who received specialized care in Romanian hospitals. Doctors say he died of a hemorrhagic complication after undergoing a string of surgeries during his four months of treatment.



    Another 10 patients are in specialized care in hospitals abroad. Among those who lost their lives in the fire were artists, photographers, journalists, Olympic medallists and foreign students. On October 30 2015, a fire broke out in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest where the rock band Goodbye to Gravity was giving a concert marking the release of a new album. According to eyewitness accounts, the fire was caused by fireworks, and the blaze quickly spread to the ceiling.



    People panicked and tried to leave the club, causing a stampede near the exit door. Those who were closer to the exit door were able to get out of the smoke-engulfed room. Those who were farther from the door stood little chances, dying either in the fire or from smoke poisoning. The tragedy hit the headlines in international media, prompting the famous Discovery channel to produce a documentary called The Colectiv Disaster, which aired on Sunday.



    The documentary presents a chronological progression of the tragic events that night, based on the accounts of the people who were directly involved — survivors, family of the victims, authorities and medical staff involved in rescue operations. One of the firemen on scene recounts how he collected working cell-phones, all displaying either “mum” or “dad” as caller IDs. “I felt the blaze scorching my hands. My back had become an instrument of torture, and the plastic of my glasses melted in my palms, splashing a stinging, thick liquid all over my chest and neck.



    The excruciating pain had turned us all into malfunctioning marionettes, crawling through the dust and black smoke with fresh, open wounds”, one of the survivors wrote on her social network profile. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of the tragedy and are looking for the ones responsible. Romania’s interim Prosecutor General says the investigation is in its final stage. The National Institute for Forensics has recently completed its analysis and submitted it to prosecutors and to the experts of the parties, according to the legislation in force.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Censure Motion Against the Ponta Government

    Censure Motion Against the Ponta Government

    Under attack from the media and the opposition, the coalition government in Bucharest is backed against the wall. At the same time, judging by the statements of the parties in the coalition, it might seem stronger than ever. On Friday, Parliament will debate and vote on the censure motion introduced by the Liberal opposition. The themes of the motion are the organizational disaster at polls abroad, at the presidential election last November, which disallowed thousands to vote, though they queued for hours, as well as the failure to pass the law for absentee voting, which could have prevented said situations.



    Under the title ‘Victor Ponta dismissed for excess of power by blocking elections, the Social Democrat PM is accused of wishing to have become president by the deliberate sabotage of Romanian citizens in the diaspora, mostly and traditionally voting for the right, and of currently refusing to organize partial elections in numerous counties, cities and villages left without officials in 2012, because they were arrested for corruption.



    The National Liberal Party also claims that the censure motion could have had more topics, which are at the same time charges against the Cabinet: bad governance, hasty amendments to in the Fiscal Code, attacks against the judiciary. However, the arithmetic in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies is merciless with the introducers of the motion. In order to pass, the document needs at least 278 votes, while the Liberal caucus has only 173 senators and deputies.



    There are not enough votes in the Popular Movement Party, nostalgic for former president Traian Basescu, in the group that left the Social Democratic Party with one of its leaders, Mircea Geoana, or the confused remains of the populist PP-DD Party, for Ponta and his government to fall. All Social Democrat MPs have announced they would stand by their leader. The junior partners in the executive, the National Union for Romanias Progress, the Conservative Party and the Reformed Liberal Party, have also raced to declare fidelity for the PM, accusing the opposition of throwing the country into a political crisis for gaining political capital, with total disregard for the economic and social consequences.



    Everything, analysts say, indicates the predictable failure of the motion. It would be the third time when Pontas executive team, which came to power in 2012, passes this test. But, for the PM, this is just a small breathing space. The introduction on Friday of the motion was eclipsed by the huge scandal triggered by the announcement that the PM is under criminal investigation for corruption, for forgery, conspiracy to tax evasion, money laundering and conflicts of interest, which Ponta allegedly committed before becoming head of government. He became the first PM in post-communist Romania to be indicted in a criminal case during his term, which, pundits warn, discredits him, his government, and the country in general.