Romanian Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea made on October 26 his first public statement on the death of a policeman who was part of his official motorcade last Tuesday. He said he wouldn’t resign, after President Klaus Iohannis adviced him to do so.

Oprea explained he wasn’t aware of what had happened to the man, until after his car left the scene of the accident.

The 28-year old policeman Bogdan Gigina died last week after falling with his motorcycle into a road pit in Bucharest, while he was leading in traffic the official motorcade of the Interior Minister.

After the accident, the official public statements on the issue were very scarce. The Bucharest Police announced in a press release afterwards that the minister was returning from a security and public order institution when the accident took place. However, the press release didn’t mention where the Interior Minister was heading to. The Interior Minister is allowed to use the motorcade only in emergency cases.

About 1,000 people gathered in Bucharest on Saturday afternoon, demanding the Gabriel Oprea’s resignation. People were furious that the authorities refused to make any comment on this.

editor@romania-insider.com