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IntMin Dan at the hearings before the Chamber of Deputies' Defence Committee
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Carmen Dan, had a public hearing on Tuesday, in the Defence Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. During the first part of the session representatives of the press were also present, but later on the hearing carried out without the presence of the media.
The head of the Defence Committee of the Deputies' Chamber, Dorel Caprar, asked the media representatives and all those who do not hold ORNISS (National Registry Office for Classified Information) certificate to leave the room, although Liberal Ovidiu Raetchi proposed a vote for the hearing to continue in the presence of the mass-media representatives, while "such classified aspects" should be avoided.
Caprar underscored that all procedural steps will be taken so that all the members of the Committee to receive the MAI (Ministry of Interior) report regarding the August 10 events.
"I want to strongly protest. I believe that public opinion in Romania has the right to know the answer (of the Minister - editor's note) to the questions (of the Committee members - editor's note) through the media. I believe Mrs. Minister too will agree to answer the questions while avoiding such sensitive topics. We are living a moment when the public opinion needs explanations. If you evacuate the media, at a time like this, you are making a big mistake. This is a good thing (the presence of the Minister at the Committee - editor's note). It really is a proof of a remarkable transparency in this context. Please just try to maintain this spirit of transparency. The presence of the media is necessary," said PMP (People's Movement Party) MP Robert Turcescu.
In his turn, Caprar specified that he observed the Regulation of the Deputies' Chamber and the classified information regime.
"If the MPs are willing to do that, they can tell the media what happened inside afterwards, on their own responsibility. But it will be their responsibility. (..) We can discuss anything that is included in this report. If we go on with this procedure, then you can study the report and adopt an opinion on it, and we continue to discuss like this, as we've done so far, while we keep trying to avoid certain topics. (...) I thought that I am here in front of a Committee that wants to hear details about concrete, technical, procedural aspects," stated Carmen Dan.
During the hearing, Minister Dan said that the Minister will provide the Chamber of Deputies' Defence Committee with the report on the August 10 events as soon as the due parliamentary procedure is completed.
"I provided all the necessary clarifications on the content and the nature of the report. There is a procedure to complete, we have all availability to provide the report to the committee members after we carry out the necessary steps. (...) If, after having examined the classified information and gone through the details of the report, the committee members consider there are still aspects that need further clarification, we are at the disposal of the committee any time. I also discussed with Committee Chairman, Mr. Dorel Caprar, I think he will promptly initiate - as he already announced - the procedure to make the report available for examination. As soon as the procedure is completed, we will make the report available," IntMin Dan said upon leaving the hearings before the Chamber of Deputies' Defence Committee.
The minister added that, leaving aside political disputes, she and her colleagues at the Ministry had the opportunity to answer "many of the questions raised in the public space and by the committee members."
"More than that, there are specific activities unfolding via the competent structures, I am talking about law enforcement structures. The police are further doing their job, the Gendarmerie too are doing their job. As we collect data on the number of criminal files and on the measures ordered, we will immediately let [the committee] know about any other aspect that would come to light following the judicial inquiries or the identification of the guilty persons, without any reserve," said Carmen Dan.
The National Liberal Party (PNL, opposition) intends to call in for questioning the Prefect of Bucharest, and, as a political action, will submit a motion against the Minister of Internal Affairs once the Parliament will resume its activity, announced Tuesday, Victor Paul Dobre, the deputy leader of the liberal group from the Chamber of Deputies.
At the end of the hearing of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Carmen Dan, in the Defence Committee, the liberal MP declared that this endeavor clarified two "essential problems" concerning the events of August 10: Who decided the forceful intervention of the Gendarmerie and why was this "at a level that has not happened for a few decades in Romania".
"The long of the entire discussion, it would seem that here, today, there was not a single character present for hearing - the decision-maker, namely the Prefect of the Capital (...) who is the one who decided on a public attack - madam Minister explained, along with other colleagues from the Ministry's helm - , who decided on their own, consulting with the commander of the unit on the spot. So, this is what was said to us. Unfortunately, without the decision-maker, we had no one we could clarify the motives with, the level of intervention, why it was decided at 8 o'clock in the evening and intervened at 01:30, and so on. Careful, though - the Prefect of the Capital City is not a stand-alone character, the capital's Prefect is the one who represents the Romanian Government in the Bucharest Municipality, the country's capital. The capital's Prefect is under the direct command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prime Minister's. So, it was the Prefect who decided, and we will probably have to continue to request a hearing for the Prefect, in order to clarify a series of matters. As far as the political action is concerned, just as I announced, PNL will submit a motion once the Parliament will resume work," said Victor Paul Dobre.