Nicușor Dan says that “a commission of inquiry” must be constituted “according to the accusations of sexual abuse of Professor SNSPA, Marius Pieleanu. “I saw, of course, the material”
Nicușor Dan, the president of Romania, holds a press conference at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, July 14, 2025. Inquam Photos / George Călin
“A commission of inquiry must be made up,” said President Nicușor Dan, when asked about the lack of SNSPA reaction, after which SNOOOOOOP.ro investigative site published on Tuesday the testimonies of several students and women about the teacher's sexual abuse.
“Snoop has published recent testimonies that have been sexually assaulted by Mr. Pieleanu. SNSPA is silent. It is not the first time SNSPA is in the center of such a scandal. How do you see this scandal, the fact that it is repeated? Do you think that SNSPA has treated the situation correctly? Is it a need for a rethinking of the legal framework to protect the students?” Times.
Nicușor Dan first spoke about general cases, implicitly about the responsibility of the Romanian state when the victims come to talk over several years about the abuses they were subjected to.
“It is a very serious matter. This type of manifestation is unacceptable. Why, at this moment, in cases that are already documented, the victims come to talk over ten years and have not trusted to go to the authorities? Here we must build. As we talked about the victims of domestic violence. They are more careful in respecting the law, ”the president replied.
Returning to the case of SNSPA and Marius Pieleanu, Nicușor Dan said that “it must be a thorough research of the university, without denying the right to defense”.
Asked what the SNSPA's silence for students, but also for potential aggressors transmits, he replied: “I saw the material of course. I did not follow the SNSPA reaction in the public space. A commission of inquiry must be made, and in the end we will be communicated the results of this investigation.”
“Understanding” at SNSPA: Without reaction in the case of Pieleanu
Following the investigation of SNOOOOOOP.ro, at the level of the management of the National School of Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA), the decision was made that the University should not have any public reaction, sources from the institution told HotNews.
Hotnews tried throughout the day on Tuesday to get an official reaction from SNSPA representatives.
The rector of the university, Remus Pricopie, Propectora Ligia Deca (former Minister of Education, in office when Snoop wrote about the accusations of abuse of another teacher from SNSPA, Alfred Bulai) and the chairman of the Ethics Commission, Ion Stavre, did not respond to the newsroom calls.
Snoop disclosures about Marius Pieleanu and Alfred Bulai
The SNOOOop's investigation site published the result of a few months documentation on Tuesday, which discussed with 40 people, teachers, current and former students from SNSPA and the University of Bucharest, the past collaborators of the sociologist and professor Marius Pieleanu.
Of the women who accuse Marius Pieleanu of abuse or inappropriate behavior and who discussed with the journalist Snoop Ioana Moldovan, four assumed with first name and name, two wanted to give only the first name, and three opted for pseudonym.
They tell scenes of sexual abuse, categorically denied by Marius Pieleanu. The new disclosures come after the SNSPA ethics committee has closed the cases of other testimonies, and Professor Marius Pieleanu has resumed his courses in SNSPA this spring.
At the end of July 2024, the entire SNOOOOOop's investigative site revealed that the sociologist Alfred Bulai, teacher, the head of the SNSPA sociology department and a well-known political analyst, aged 61, asked the students to undress in front of him, in practice, in the room where he was staying.
