Radio România Internațional

Tag: forgery

  • Vaccination and the green pass

    Vaccination and the green pass

    The number of Romanians who want to get immunized against Covid continues to drop, with less than 25 thousand people getting the jab in 24 hours. Consequently, the total number of vaccinated people goes up at a slow pace, with only 7.7 million Romanians fully vaccinated and almost 2 million who also received the booster jab. Authorities are trying to convince people go to vaccination centers and are considering introducing the green certificate at the workplace. The Government announced consultations on this topic with the civil society and the Social Democrat leader, Marcel Ciolacu, whose party initiated the draft law, said that authorities agreed on its adoption by year-end. Meanwhile, Romanians who do not believe in the effectiveness of vaccination, but want to enjoy the same rights as the immunized persons, are using illegal methods to win the status of vaccinated person and the green pass that gives them easy access to stores, restaurants, cinemas and theatre halls.



    The high demand for fake documents is has been met with a wide offer. Nurses and other people who have access to the database are ready to release such documents for several hundred euros while anti-corruption prosecutors are trying to prevent that from happening. This week alone, two nurses at the vaccination centre of the balneal facility in Mangalia, south-eastern Romania, an employee with the Municipal Hospital in this Black Sea resort and another three persons have been detained and are investigated for having contributed to the issuing of more than 100 fake Covid digital certificates. The first official case of fake vaccination involving a general practitioner was reported in Romania at the beginning of September. Authorities had been conducting investigations ever since summer, and found that tens of thousands such fake documents may have been issued. Last month alone, authorities found that 3,500 false certificates were released at the Petea checkpoint in north-western Romania.



    According to official data, over 1,300 people are being investigated and more than 500 criminal cases have been opened for fake documents. Interior Minister, Lucian Bode, says that Bucharest occupies an unwanted 1st place in Europe in this respect. However, other countries are having this problem as well. The French Interior Ministry has announced that the police found more than 182,000 fake Covid certificates issued in the country. In Italy, a leader of the anti-vaccine movement was arrested in Palermo, together with a nurse and another person, for using a fake Covid certificate. (EE)


  • Statements on the Independence of the Judiciary

    Statements on the Independence of the Judiciary

    Sent to court for forgery of private documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering in a case involving legal assistance contracts signed by the Turceni and Rovinari power companies in the south, the Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta continues to claim his innocence and to deny both the charges, and the Oppositions and President Iohannis calls for his resignation.



    The disputes on the topic are far from being over. As long as Ponta remains the head of the government, the state might stand to lose, said the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, in a talk show on a private TV channel. Kovesi explained that in the lawsuit against the PM, the Oltenia Power Company does not take part as a plaintiff because it is under the authority of the government, and implicitly of the PM.



    Laura Codruta Kovesi: “This is not the first case in which a public institution is headed by the same person that is sent to court as a defendant, and we have this problem, that the public institution in question will not bring civil action against that person. Magistrates, for instance, get suspended from office when they are sent to court, and I think the same rule ought to apply to the other civil servants in public institutions, because in such cases where the state does bring civil action against a person, it is obviously the state that will incur losses.



    On the other hand, the chief anti-corruption prosecutor denied the Prime Ministers claims that his indictment was the result of political interference. In a separate statement to another television station, Victor Ponta hinted that President Klaus Iohannis was behind this decision:



    Victor Ponta: “Im wondering whether the President resorted to all this pressure to have me indicted, because I think the statements he has made are not suitable for a president of Romania. If he says he is happy with be being sent to court, then perhaps he has his reasons.



    The President had previously stated that the passing of the no-confidence motion tabled by the Liberals in Opposition would solve a major problem that Romania is facing, namely having a prime minister who is facing criminal charges. The Presidents chief of staff, Dan Mihalache, was also quick to reply to the Prime Ministers allegations: “The Presidency will not get into this kind of low-level squabble, because we have work to do. If Mr. Ponta has doubts regarding the independence of the judiciary, he may report them to the Judicial Control Corps, Mihalache said.