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Reuters: Romanian lawmaker panel partially decriminalises abuse of office
A committee of Romanian lawmakers voted on Monday to partially decriminalise abuse of office, a change that if enacted could overturn a prison sentence against the ruling party leader and further strain ties with the European Union, Reuters correspondent informs quoted by euronews.com.
The vote appears the latest twist in a regional drama that has seen the EU accuse several eastern European post-communist countries of plotting to put their courts under political control and weaken the rule of law, allegations they deny.
Romania is seen as one of the EU’s most corrupt states, and Brussels has kept its justice system under special monitoring since its 2007 accession to the bloc. Arguments about how hard to fight graft have dominated its post EU-entry politics.
Monday’s vote was taken by a committee headed by Florin Iordache, who quit as justice minister in early 2017 after a failed attempt to decriminalise several graft offences triggered the biggest rallies since the 1989 anti-communist revolution.
The changes filed by the justice ministry cleared the panel by a 13/7 margin in a session dominated by ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) MPs, who also have a comfortable majority in the legislative.
Last month, the Supreme Court sentenced PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who is also the speaker of the lower house of parliament, to 3-1/2 years in jail for inciting other public officials to commit abuse of office. The ruling is not final and can be challenged in court.
Critics say Dragnea’s preliminary jail sentence for abuse of office could become void as neither he nor his relatives benefited from the alleged offences, although the court ruled that some of his party’s employees – also sentenced in the case – did.
Under the amendments, abuse of office would no longer be a crime if prosecutors could not prove the public official in question had committed the deed for his own benefit or for the benefit of first- or second-degree relatives.
Moreover, the committee voted to decriminalise actions as a result of which a public official gains under 1,900 lei (361.6 pounds), a change that appears to redefine abuse of office.
The lawmakers also voted to lower the maximum jail sentence for abuse of office to five years from seven currently, and decided that convicts older than 60 would serve only one third of their overall sentence to prison.
Anti-graft prosecutors have said that over 200 abuse of office offences that are currently making their way through the courts could be immediately scrapped when new changes take effect.
The bill will be sent to the upper house, the senate, for debate on Tuesday. A vote in the lower house, which has the final say on the bill, is expected before July 19, when an extraordinary legislative session which began on July 2 ends.
Anti-corruption prosecutors have secured a spate of convictions against lawmakers, ministers and mayors in recent years, exposing conflicts of interest, abuse of power, fraud and the awarding of state contracts in exchange for bribes.
But leading politicians, some of whom are currently under investigation or on trial, have denied wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of using their powers for political persecution.
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The Save Romania Union (USR - oposition) deputy Stelian Ion criticized the Justice Ministry on Monday for submitting the proposal on the abuse of office to the Special Parliamentary Committee too late.
"How is it possible to transmit the proposal to the Ministry of Justice ten minutes before the beginning of the sitting? This text was kept in the drawer to prevent tens of thousands of people to take to the street. Without any reasoning, nothing, on what grounds has this article been changed? He only told us just about the threshold on TV stations, not that the entire offense is redefined. (...) I was personally on Friday to the Ministry of Justice, nobody received me. The minister is on holiday, there was not even an advisor to tell us what it was about," said the USR deputy.
He added that by adopting this proposal, many officials who have committed serious crimes will get away with them.
"Many civil servants who have committed serious crimes, with very large damage, will get away with them. A threshold has been set, but the full text simply has been changed (...) On what basis did you come up with this text, with what arguments, why did you modify the element that refers to the subjective part the offense, namely to acquire for themselves, spouse or relative. That is, unless it is proven that you committed that crime not for yourself but for a friend of yours and you made him rich with millions of euro, it is ok. This is what the minister says, instead of presenting in front of us here, at the committee, these points of view because he has had it since Thursday [the amendment on the abuse of office]," said Stelian Ion.