The Legal Committee within the Romanian Chamber of Deputies issued the maximum sanction for unaffiliated deputy Dan Vîlceanu (picture, right) after he assaulted the liberal (PNL) deputy Florin Roman in the plenary session.

Vîlceanu, who also used to be part of the National Liberal Party, will have his salary cut by 50% for 6 months and his speaking time reduced to only 10 seconds in the plenary session for 3 months.

MP Florin Roman made the request for Dan Vîlceanu's sanction at the Standing Bureau meeting. The Legal Committee, in turn, decided that the former should receive the maximum sanction, according to News.ro.

In a post on Facebook, Roman said that Vîlceanu hit him with the knee in the nose and pushed him. In response, Vîlceanu said, cited by HotNews, that he simply held Roman by the shoulders and guided him outside the plenary room, where they argued. 

Video from security cameras in the hallway, however, appears to give more credence to Roman's version of events. It also seems to show that Vîlceanu attempted to bite Roman by the nose.

Dan Vîlceanu was Romania's minister of finance in 2021, then minister of investments and European projects in the Citu government in 2022.

PNL deputy Florin Roman is awaiting the issuance of the medical-legal certificate after being assaulted. The liberal added that he would not withdraw the criminal complaint against his former party colleague and stated, "What example would we give to Romanian society, to the citizens, if we swept this under the rug in such situations?"

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Ilona Andrei and Filip Havarneanu on Facebook)