Romanian Senate president wants Parliamentary Committee for Truth and Reconciliation
Romanian Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu proposed the creation of a Parliamentary Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, as he believes this would help “start the process of restoring justice within the natural democratic framework.”
He made the proposal in a Facebook post, in which he refers to an infringement procedure opened against Romania for non-compliance with the presumption of innocence in criminal cases. Tariceanu said this is “a major signal to stop abuses and violations of citizens' rights and freedoms.”
The Senate president talked in his post about the protocol between the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) and the National Anticorruption Department (DNA), which he believes hijacked the fight against corruption in Romania and turned into “an antidemocratic campaign to eliminate people who were uncomfortable for the system.”
He also referred to politicians who use the term “penali,” which translates as “criminally liable,” and said they should take this word out of their vocabulary. President Klaus Iohannis was recently fined by the National Council for Combatting Discrimination (CNCD) for using this term in his statements related to the ruling coalition’s initiatives to change the justice laws and to dismiss the chief anticorruption prosecutor.
“A Committee for Truth and Reconciliation – as it existed in other countries where the abuses had become a mode of operation at some point - is a solution to find out the truth and start the process of restoring justice within the natural democratic framework,” Calin Popescu Tariceanu said.
Earlier in May, the Senate president said corruption has become Romania’s country brand, and has blamed the DNA chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi for this situation. A few days later, he said the fight against corruption is a political endeavor, being similar to the 1950s campaign against the bourgeoisie.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice recently acquitted Tariceanu of perjury charges. The anticorruption prosecutors sent him to court in 2016 for lying under oath and favoring the offender. The case was connected to his testimony in a case related to the illegal retrocession of the Baneasa royal farm and of large parts of the Snagov forest.
Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com
