Romanian Prosecutors Demand Public Apology From High Council Of Magistrates Head

Romania’s Association of Prosecutors urged the head of the High Council of Magistrates to present a public apology for having said in an interview that the decision not to prosecute former ministers over shady privatizations “discredits” the Romanian justice system.

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In a press release Monday, prosecutors said the head of the High Council of Magistrates, judge Lidia Barbulescu, seriously breached article 30 of Law no. 317/2004, which stipulates the High Council of Magistrates guarantees magistrates’ independence and is obliged to defend their reputation.

The prosecutors’ association said Barbulescu also breached provisions of Law no. 304/2004 which bans prosecutors and judges from stating in public opinions on trials that are underway or on cases prosecutors have been notified on.

Oblivious of the principle of presumed innocence, the constitution and the law regulating magistrates’ status, Barbulescu said in an interview that anticorruption prosecutors’ decision not to open criminal investigations against former ministers Codrut Seres and Zsolt Nagy “discredits” the Romanian justice system.

Romanian anticorruption prosecutors decided last week not to press charges against former economy minister Codrut Seres, former communications minister Zsolt Nagy, former ministry advisers Dorinel Mucea and Radu Donciu, and Bulgarian consultant Stamen Stanchev on allegations of bribe and espionage related to the sale of state assets.

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