Radio România Internațional

Tag: Justice Minister Raluca Pruna

  • Corruption and Confiscation

    Corruption and Confiscation

    A senator and a
    deputy were in the media spotlight on Monday. A former secretary general of the
    Liberal Democratic Party and later the co-president of the Liberal Party,
    senator Vasile Blaga was indicted for peddling in influence. According to
    prosecutors, over 2011 and 2012, Blaga allegedly received from a company no
    less than 700,000 euros to use his influence with a person holding a leadership
    position at two state companies.

    Also on Monday, the deputies were supposed to
    vote on the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of their colleague Eugen
    Bejinariu so that the National Anticorruption Directorate could start a
    criminal investigation against him. A former secretary general in the Social
    Democratic government in 2003 and 2004, deputy Bejinaru is accused of
    aggravated abuse of office as part of a case known as Microsoft 2, in which a
    50% discount granted by Microsoft for IT licences in schools was pocketed by
    third parties.

    The case, in which former ministers and Microsoft Romania directors
    are also under investigation, caused damage of 67 million euros. Bejinariu’s
    colleagues in the Social Democratic Party have asked him to resign from
    Parliament, threatening to withdraw their political support, thinking no doubt
    that Bejinariu is a liability so close to the parliamentary elections due in
    less than two weeks’ time. Bejinaru, has refused, saying he is innocent and
    preferring instead to leave the Chamber of Deputies decide his fate. The vote,
    however, did not take place on Monday, because of a lack of quorum. A new
    voting session may be held next week.

    All this goes to show that the fight
    against high-level corruption continues, leading in recent years to many
    convictions in some very important cases. Despite these achievements, political
    commentators and civil society have often complained that not enough of the
    losses caused by corruption have been recovered and not enough of the illegally
    obtained assets confiscated. In theory, the confiscation of illegal assets may
    discourage corruption more than a prison sentence.

    According to the Justice
    Minister Raluca Pruna, at the end of October, the state had confiscated assets
    worth around 4 million euros. The money will go to a number of ministries and
    non-governmental organisations, namely 20% to healthcare, another 20% to
    education, 15% each to the finance, justice and interior ministries and another
    15% to NGOs. Starting next year, the money obtained through confiscations will
    be channelled into social projects. As the Justice Minister Raluca Pruna put
    it, what we, society want, is to take back the stolen money!



  • The Penitentiary System and Extended Confiscation

    The Penitentiary System and Extended Confiscation

    October 4th is the deadline for the EU member countries to transpose into national law the directive that provides for the extended confiscation of assets obtained fraudulently. In Romania, the emergency triggered by the deadline set in Brussels coincides with fierce domestic debates on the effects of the fight against corruption. For a long time now, the media, civil society and experts have warned that indicting, arresting and even sentencing top level corruption is worthless, unless it is followed by a recovery of the losses caused by fraud.



    The Justice Minister Raluca Pruna has announced on Radio Romania that a draft law on this matter already exists, and will be submitted to Parliament for endorsement. She has not ruled out the possibility of issuing an emergency ordinance, but has voiced hope that, provided senators and deputies work fast, such a measure won’t be necessary. “The current legislation already stipulates extended confiscation as a potential measure. Unfortunately, it has not been very much used in the cases tried so far, and what we are doing now by means of this draft is to fully transpose the directive”, the minister also said.



    The conviction rate in cases of corruption stands at 90%, which, according to the National Anticorruption Directorate, is proof of the quality of the evidence that criminal cases are built on, as well as of prosecutors’ professionalism. On the other hand, though, the head of the Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, has recently stated that, following the final rulings issued last year alone, the state must recover some 200 million Euro and insisted on the importance of these sentences to be fully served, including by recovering the damages and losses caused by corruption. “Some of those sentenced do not fully serve the sentence decided by judges. Some are released on parole, without any recovery of damage, or due to administrative loopholes. Such cases gradually lead to the situation in which the state loses authority and people lose their trust in state institutions, Mrs. Kovesi has warned.


    The Justice Minister Raluca Pruna has stated that, when it comes to economic crimes, more discouraging is to confiscate the object of the crime rather than serving a sentence that, generally speaking, in Romania and actually elsewhere in the world, is a lesser punishment than for common law offences. She has also said that the full transposition of the European Directive could be a solution for the overcrowding of the domestic penitentiary system.



    This summer, inmates protested loudly against prison conditions. Also, the employees in the system say that their workload is too big and salaries too small, and refuse to do any overtime, which could block activity in prisons, because of staff shortage. The National Administration of Penitentiaries in Romania has 15,000 jobs, covered by only 12,000 people, while the real need stands at some 20,000.



    (Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)