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Southeast Europe
July 6, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 18
Romanian police
fight anti-corruption protesters with tear gas
Carmen Simion in Bucharest
The Romanian Chamber of Deputies adopted on July 4 a series of controversial changes to the criminal code, including a redefinition of abuse of office which would partly decriminalise the of- fence. The vote sparked protests in Bucharest, which erupted into clashes between demonstra- tors and police.
The adopted changes were rushed through the parliament, with a parliament committee and both houses of parliament approving them within three days. They have been harshly criticised by magis- trates, the president, the EC and Romania’s inter- national partners, who have pointed out they may weaken the rule of law or the country’s ability to fight crime or corruption. President Klaus Iohan- nis reacted briefly, calling the changes pointless and damaging, and said he would challenge them through the constitutional court.
Despite criticism and mass protests organised in the country, changing criminal legislation has been the focus of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) since taking power, The party leader and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, was recently sentenced to three years and six month imprisonment for instigation to abuse of office. His sentence is not final.
Dragnea would be one of the beneficiaries of the new legislation. According to the changes adopted by the parliament, the abuse of office offence would be applicable only to public officials whose actions bring benefits to themselves or their close relatives. Dragnea’s case concerns two people
paid by the Teleorman county council that he headed at the time, who were actually employed on PSD business. The PSD leader would thus evade justice under the new definition considering the benefit in his case was not directed to himself or one of his close relatives, but his party.
According to the changed legislation, abuse of of- fice would be considered an offence if the damage caused exceeds the minimum wage in the country. Also, the sentence for abuse of office would be cut from the current two to seven year imprisonment to two to five years.
Following the vote, around 3,000 people protested in Bucharest’s Victory Square, chanting slogans against the PSD and Dragnea. The protesters occupied a few of the streets surrounding the square, while the interior ministry deployed an impressive number of personnel in the area.
The protest turned violent after some protesters tried to break the line of gendarmes in order to occupy the street in front of the government. The protesters threw water bottles, while the riot po- lice used tear gas to dissipate the crowd. Accord- ing to news.ro, the police detained four protesters, while two members of the riot police were injured.
As usual, the protesters carried Romanian, EU and US flags at the rally and chanted slogans such as “PSD, the red plague,” “Resignation,” “Down with Dragnea,” and “How greedy you can be, you stole from children,” a reference to the fact that Dragnea’s case con- cerned damage to the child protection institution.