LAW Romania’s Constitutional Court is today tackling a notification from the Higher Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the so-called law of the fugitives, which says that offenders who are to serve prison sentences and do not present themselves to a police station in seven days will be considered fugitives and get an additional sentence between six months and three years. According to the Higher Court, this law infringes upon the citizens’ right to a fair trial and to individual freedom. The list of famous fugitives includes the former mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, the former head of Romania’s Department for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism, Alina Bica, Mario Iorgulescu, the son of the president of the Professional Football League, Gino Iorgulescu or Paul Philippe of Romania, a grandson of king Carol ll. The former mayor of Baia Mare, Catalin Chereches, who had fled to Germany after having been sentenced to five years in prison for bribery was brought to Romania on Tuesday and sent to the maximum security prison in Arad, western Romania.
ELECTIONS Physician Catalin Cîrstoiu, manager of the University hospital in Bucharest, has today been presented in a news conference as the joint candidate for the Bucharest mayor seat by the ruling PSD-PNL coalition. Cîrstoiu will not join either party, and get support as an independent candidate during the local election of June 9th. In the following days, the Social-Democrats and Liberals are expected to announce their joint candidates for the mayor seats of the Bucharest’s six districts. We recall that 2024 is an election year in Romania, which will see election rounds for the European Parliament and local administration in June, for the presidential seat in September and the local Parliament in December.
STRIKE Employees of Romania’s National Post Office have gone on a warning strike in an attempt to get pay rises. Protesters have called for an 80 euro rise and an increase in the loyalty bonus between 5 and 10 %. The National Trade Union Block, BNS, says that unless negotiations on the collective labour contract improve, an all-out strike is to follow shortly. Trade union leaders have underlined that almost half of Romania’s population is expected to bear the brunt of an all-out strike as the National Post Office will not be able to deliver pensions to the five million pensioners Romania presently has, as well as the social benefits to people in difficult situations. According to the Trade Union Block, two thirds of the employees of the national post company have the lowest salaries in Romania’s economy.
TENNIS Three Romanian tennis players, Simona Halep, Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian have conceded defeat in the first day of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, Florida, a competition with over 8.7 million dollars in prize money. Cristian was outperformed by Diane Parry of France, 6-7, 2-6, while Ana Bogdan lost to the Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-4. After a long absence from competitions, Simona Halep took on Paula Badosa of Spain, who eventually won the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Halep needed medical attention after the second set. The organisers have offered a wild card to Halep, who is no longer part of the WTA ranking. A former number one player, Halep had not played an official game since August 29, 2022 when she tested positive for a banned substance. The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne had admitted Halep’s appeal and reduced her initial four year suspension to nine months.
WEATHER Temperatures are on the rise as compared to the previous day in most of Romania’s regions being within the normal range for this time of the year. The sky is overcast in the country’s north, center and east as well as in the mountains. Showers and mixed precipitations have been reported on small areas in the east, center, south and north-east. The highs of the day are ranging between 6 and 14 degrees centigrade with a noon reading in Bucharest of 8 degrees Celsius.
(bill)
