Romanian General Prosecutor seeks harsher punishments for incitement to violence, Legionnaire propaganda
Alex Florența, the General Prosecutor of Romania, said on Friday, December 20, that harsher punishments are needed to combat incitement to violence and Legionnaire propaganda (related to Mișcarea Legionară, a Romanian interwar fascist movement) in public spaces effectively.
To that end, the office of the General Prosecutor will propose new measures to combat such phenomena. However, the General Prosecutor explained that, on average, police, and other institutions tasked with combating discrimination only submit around 21 reports per year concerning “the promotion of persons guilty of genocide and war crimes, as well as the promotion of fascist, Legionnaire, racist, or xenophobic ideas, concepts, or doctrines,” according to Digi24.
In some areas of Romania, prosecutors received either no reports or at most one report pertaining to hate-inciting or discriminatory behavior. Examples include areas under the jurisdiction of the Bacău, Constanța, Galați, Iași, Oradea, or Suceava Court of Appeal.
Between 2022 and 2024, courts in Romania convicted only two individuals for Legionnaire and anti-Semitic propaganda, addressing crimes committed between 2013 and 2017. A similar disappointing track record is held by the General Prosecutor’s Office, with no investigations into such cases.
Romania has seen a rise in antisemitism and Legionnaire propaganda, particularly evident in the public sphere during the COVID-19 pandemic and the canceled presidential elections, leading to the rise of far-right politician and former presidential frontrunner Călin Georgescu.
Following the canceled presidential elections, authorities began investigating individuals involved in Legionnaire propaganda or incitement to violence but noticed flaws in existing legislation.
To remedy those problems, the General Prosecutor's Office proposed criminalizing "the act of publicly promoting the cult of individuals who were part of the leadership of fascist, Legionnaire, racist, or xenophobic organizations, regardless of the existence of a conviction against such individuals."
The General Prosecutor's Office has also suggested holding individuals criminally responsible for situations where there are no explicit threats but which still constitute forms of intimidation. Additionally, the Office proposes increasing the maximum penalties for such offenses. "There is also a major deficiency in the fact that certain illegal behaviors, such as hate speech, are sanctioned both as misdemeanors and as crimes," the General Prosecutor noted.
The proposals, however, were not well received. Marco Maximilian Katz, the founding director of the Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism organization (MCA Romania), described them as "a pathetic request for legislative changes, an attempt meant to justify the non-enforcement of laws for 22 years."
Similarly, Daniel Șandru, head of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile, also questioned Florența's proposal to create a working group. "I cannot help but wonder if the magistrates and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who will be part of the working group announced by Mr. Alex Florența have a solid understanding of recent history and the history of totalitarianism in Romania," he said, according to G4Media.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Sabin Cirstoveanu)
