Immunity and justice

Thousands of Romanians protest against Senate's blocking manslaughter investigation of former deputy PM and interior minister Gabriel Oprea.

Bogdan Matei, 23.09.2016, 14:13

On September 5th
Romanian senators and deputies returned to work after the summer holiday for a
last and brief session of the current Parliament ahead of the legislative
elections due on December 11th. It is not only senators and deputies
that got back to work, but also the most fearful enemies of political
corruption in Romania: the anti-corruption prosecutors and civil rights
militants. Thousands of people protested on Thursday in front of the Parliament
headquarters in Bucharest and several other Romanian cities against the
Senate’s decision to reject the request of the National Anti-Corruption
Directorate (DNA) to start the prosecution of senator Gabriel Oprea. This is a
political vote that obstructs justice, the DNA chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi
said about the senators’ vote.

A former deputy prime minister and interior minister in Victor
Ponta’s cabinet, Oprea is accused of manslaughter over the death of a
policeman, Bogdan Gigina. The latter died last year in a motorcycle accident
while he was providing official police escort for Oprea. According to the DNA,
Oprea was not entitled to official police escort at the time, given that he was
believed to be making a personal trip.

Legal experts and pundits alike say that the investigators’
accusations are rather unsubstantial, and argue that Oprea, who is being
investigated in several other more serious criminal cases, does not necessarily
face a conviction in the dead policeman case. Here’s what protesters told Radio
Romania:

We want justice, not immunity. Unfortunately, we are governed by
MPs who have immunity and who do nothing but steal from us and leave us dirt
poor. How much longer are we to tolerate this? Laws are being broken and they
apply differently to different people. This is what I told my child who asked
me why we have come here to protest. By blocking a criminal investigation,
Parliament have showed us just how much they despise justice and family. We are
not accusing anyone. It’s not for us to apply labels, we are simply saying they
should let the prosecutors go to the judges and let justice run its course.

Thursday’s large-scale
protests were similar to those in November 2015 when the coalition government
headed by the Social-Democrat Victor Ponta resigned under the pressure of
anti-corruption rallies staged across the country. Less than three months ahead
of the parliamentary elections, the Romanian political class seems to have got
the message. President Klaus Iohannis has warned that a reassessment of the
parliamentary and also presidential immunity system is needed. The National
Liberal Party has requested that the Senate’s vote on Oprea’s immunity be
resumed and the Social Democratic Party has agreed. In a message on the social
media Oprea himself said he would ask for the DNA’s request to be approved by
the Senate. He also said he would ask his colleagues to approve the lifting of
his parliamentary immunity so that he could prove he was not hiding from
justice and that he considered himself innocent. It is uncertain, however, if
parliamentary procedures allow for the vote to be resumed.