Scandal rocks Romania’s Anti-Corruption Directorate

The National Anti-Corruption Directorate is facing a huge scandal

Roxana Vasile, 14.02.2018, 13:28

An institution highly appreciated abroad, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Romania is at the heart of a huge scandal. In a television show, a former Social Democratic MP, Vlad Cosma, who has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by a court of first instance, launched grave accusations against some anti-corruption prosecutors in Prahova County, in the south.

Cosma claimed he had been asked to plant evidence in a case involving the former Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta and businessman Sebastian Ghita, who later fled the country to Serbia. Vlad Cosma produced audio recordings to substantiate his allegations.

In response, the chief of the anti-corruption unit in Prahova, Lucian Onea, has told a press conference that the institution he runs has never tampered with evidence or made illegal deals with defendants.

Shortly after the accusations were made public, the judicial inspection corps has announced that it will run checks to identify possible cases of misconduct. Meanwhile, the Forensics and Prosecution Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is running its own investigations, further to complaints filed after the Ploiesti tapes were made public.

Moreover, the civil society representatives in the Higher Council of Magistracy, Romeo Chelariu and Victor Alistar, believe that “the most serious blow to the independence of the judiciary would be to sweep this grave distortion of judicial powers under the rug and to fail to take steps to correct the system.” They also believe this is not the only case of this kind in the Romanian judicial system.

Observers have mixed opinions on the matter. On the one hand, there are those who are deeply concerned with the practices revealed by the former Deputy Vlad Cosma. Many of them talk about a so-called “illegitimate parallel state” which is attempting to seize power in spite of the latest legislative elections won by the Social Democrats.

Furthermore, if the allegations prove correct, some say we could identify political police elements in Romania. Voices in the Social Democratic Party claim that under these circumstances Laura Codruta Kovesi, the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, must go.

The other side consists in supporters of the Romanian anti-corruption watchdog. They dismiss claims concerning a parallel power circle and say Cosma’s accusations are aimed at staining the prosecutors and police officers whose efforts to curb corruption have interfered with the interests of certain politicians and businessmen.

These allegations should not be subject to political debate, the right-wing Opposition argues, but if they are proved then obviously justice must take its course.