October 1, 2018 UPDATE
Supreme Court approves reopening of corruption case against Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea
Newsroom, 01.10.2018, 19:10
JUDICIARY – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest Monday approved a request filed by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to reopen a case involving the Social Democrat leader, Liviu Dragnea, who is also the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Dragnea is accused of abuse of office in this case which was closed in 2013, but prosecutors decided to reopen it following reports from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The investigation will target the award of public contracts to a construction company back when Dragnea was the president of the Teleorman County Council. In fact, Dragnea is currently subject to a second probe in a case concerning the same company. He was also sentenced to 3 and a half years for having ordered the fictitious employment of 2 party members, and has another 2-year suspended sentence for election fraud.
2018-2019 ACADEMIC YEAR – Nearly half a million students in Romania Monday started a new academic year. President Klaus Iohannis attended the opening ceremony in Iasi, recalling that the city hosted the first modern university in Romania in 1860. The President added that the recent decades, marked by economic and technological advancement, have turned the great university centres in pillars of economic growth. In turn, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila attended the opening ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Craiova, saying that the Romanian medical school is an elite school, and that healthcare and education should underlie the development of society. The new academic year starts with the Education Minister position left vacant, after Valentin Popa resigned last week. Rovana Plumb, Minister of European Funds, has been nominated as interim Education Minister.
REMARKS – The recent changes to the justice legislation in Romania risk throwing the country back in the early 2000s, a period marked by deep corruption, US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said today at the opening ceremony of a new academic year at the Law School in Bucharest, also attended by the French Ambassador to Bucharest, Michele Ramis. Hans Klemm referred to the amendments brought to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, the modifications brought to the Judicial Inspection Corps, and the magistrates protests against the changes, which were “unimaginable in the past, Klemm argued. In their current version, these amendments will hinder or make it utterly impossible the investigation and prosecution of such crimes as murder and organized crime, the US official went on to say. According to Ambassador Klemm, international cooperation in the justice field will be reduced significantly over worries linked to sharing information with Romania.
PARLIAMENT – Romanian Senators and Deputies will resume session on Tuesday after attending ceremonies marking the start of a new academic year across the country on Monday. The Chamber of Deputies agenda includes the law regulating the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea. The debate and the vote on this matter were delayed by a week. The bill got Senates approval and has been tabled to the Chamber of Deputies. Members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania have announced they would introduce several amendments, while Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea wants to delay the vote, to give MPs enough time to analyse and discuss the offshore bill. Also this week the ruling coalition faces two simple motions. The Liberal Party in opposition has filed a simple motion against Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici in the Chamber of Deputies, while the Save Romania Union and Liberal party have filed a motion against Transport Minister Lucian Sova in the Senate. Both documents will be debated and voted on Wednesday. Parliaments committee investigating the involvement of the Personal Security Service (SPP) in the activity of certain political parties and some of their leaders is also scheduled to start its activity this week.
NOBEL PRIZE – Scientists James P. Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2018 “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. The Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced next year along with the recipient selected for 2019, in the wake of wide-ranging sexual assault allegations targeting members of the Swedish academy, made public by #MeToo. The Academy has thus decided to postpone the literature prize for next year, to allow the institution to reform and replace its outgoing members. Five Nobel prizes were instated by Swedish inventors, industrialist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel, for medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace. A sixth Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was founded by Bank of Sweden in 1968.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is ranked first and enjoys a considerable lead in WTA standings. Halep is up 2,400 points over runner-up Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and 2,700 against Germanys Angelique Kerber. The gap will shrink starting next week, considering Halep withdrew in the first round in Beijing this year. Last year the Romanian player reached the finals. This is Simonas 48th consecutive week at the top of the womens singles rankings. Also the Romanian player is ranked 11th in an all-time ranking. Other Romanians ranked in the WTA Top 100 are Mihaela Buzarnescu (24), Irina Begu (53), Sorana Cirstea (61), Ana Bogdan (80) and Monica Niculescu (82).
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu, Vlad Palcu)
