Top Anticorruption Agency Accuses Justice Minister of Quoting False Data in FT Letter

Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) accused Justice Minister Tudorel Toader that he presented false data in a letter he sent to Financial Times on Thursday, in which he argued against Laura Codruta Kovesi’s bid for the leadership of the upcoming European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

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In a statement, the agency compared statistics used by Toader in the letter with those presented in its official activity report for 2018, which shows that the minister greatly exaggerated the number of cases involving magistrates the agency handled until the Section for Investigating Judicial Offences (SIIJ) was established for that purpose.

The minister said that SIIJ took over from a number of 1422 cases involving magistrates from DNA in late 2018, of which 70% were ex officio notifications, arguing that the agency used the causes to pressure magistrates.

However, data presented by DNA in the report show a much lower number of 275 cases it handed to the newly-established section, of which 34 or approximately 12% were ex officio negotiations.

The agency also accused Toader of presenting a skewed overview in the letter of the total number of cases involving magistrates launched by DNA with Kovesi as chief prosecutor. According to DNA, 2,396 such causes were launched between January 2014 and July 2018, of which 1,992 were closed after they were deemed unfounded.

In the letter, the minister said that DNA launched criminal cases against 3,420 magistrates during Kovesi’s stint as chief prosecutor.

DNA also mentioned that, according to Romanian law, it must formally register any complaint or denunciation it receives as a criminal case.

The Romanian justice minister published a letter in Financial Times on Thursday in which he requests EU officials to not appoint Laura Codruta Kovesi as EPPO chief prosecutor.

Contacted by MEDIAFAX, Tudorel Toader said that the letter was published “on behalf of the Romanian Government”.

In the document, the minister argues that Kovesi is not suited for the office due to several controversies during her time as chief prosecutor of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), including a large number of cases launched at against magistrates.

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