Senate Deputy Chairman: Amnesty And Pardoning Are Given, Not Discussed

The chairman highlighted the importance of finding a solution for what members of the ruling PSD-ALDE coalition call “unjust sentences”, regardless of the form it will take.

“Amnesty and pardoning are given, not discussed. The Government will decide what it will do. It is important that, if we have another solution, what will we do with people who were targets and some of them were convicted, what do we do with them? If you think that it is correct for them to remain in jail, so be it. We are talking as if the bill will be passed tomorrow. It is a matter which, if the Government decides to pass, then it will pass it with the necessary reasons,” said Claudiu Manda.

The PSD senator also said that there shouldn’t be a debate on the bill, arguing that some of the ruling coalition’s judicial bills have been halted by challenges in the Parliament for the past two years.

This comes after leaders of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), including chairman Liviu Dragnea, have intensified their calls for an emergency decree regarding amnesty and pardoning, which they say is meant to “fix past judicial abuses”.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader also said on Monday that the decree is seen as a last solution for amending the alleged abuses, but that other legislative solutions for the subject will be discussed first.