BREAKING Documentary Recorder: For the first time in its history, the Bucharest Court of Appeal announces that it is holding an “extraordinary press conference” on Thursday, after the film showed how cases were prescribed by changing four to five judges

In the case of the former mayor of District 5 Marian Vanghelie, for example, the process was prolonged for years, as a result of the change of four trial panels, whose composition was modified by the management of the Court of Appeal. Finally, the crimes for which the politician was tried have expired.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal announced, on Wednesday evening, that it will hold “an extraordinary press conference”, after the Recorder documentary about the state of justice in Romania.

The heads of the Court of Appeal first come before the public at such a time

It is for the first time that the management of the Court of Appeal decides to come before the public, through the media, in such a context. The announcement was communicated to the newsrooms on Tuesday evening, when the Recorder documentary was broadcast by TVR 1, and on YouTube it had gathered 1.2 million views, within 24 hours of its release.

The announcement comes after on Wednesday the Court criticized Laurentiu Beșu, one of the judges who agreed to testify in the Recorder documentary entitled “Captured Justice”.

In the film, several prosecutors and judges, some with their identities protected, but others assumed, such as the former head of the DNA Crin Bologa, the military prosecutor Liviu Lascu or the judge Andrea Chiș, described the backstage of the justice system.

Specifically with regard to the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the documentary showed how in several cases, including those of Marian Venghelie, Cristian Burci and Puiu Popoviciu, judges were systematically changed, in order to prolong the cases or correlated with decisions to cancel previous convictions.

The Court of Appeal conference will be held at noon on Thursday.

“An extraordinary press conference will be held with the objective of presenting the factual data”

“On 11.12.2025, at 12 o'clock, at the headquarters of the Bucharest Court of Appeal in Splaiul Independţei, no. 5, sector 4 Bucharest, an extraordinary press conference will be held with the object of presenting the factual data and relevant information regarding the accusations made in the public space in the last period”, CAB transmitted, through a press release. This “extraordinary press conference” will take place in the “Istrate Micescu” Hall.

CAB position on judge appearing in Recorder inquiry

The Bucharest Court of Appeal qualified the statements of judge Ionel Laurențiu Beșu, the magistrate who spoke to the Recorder journalists, as “derogatory and without factual coverage”, according to a press release sent on Wednesday afternoon. The Court insinuated, pointing to several press articles from last year, that Judge Beșu would be a covert agent and publicly demands that he urgently clarify his status.

“Justice cannot be defended by lies, and its independence cannot be invoked by those who undermine it,” CAB said in a statement, emphasizing that “the public statements of a judge, Beşu Ionel Laurenţiu, are seriously distorted and contradicted by official documents and clear legal procedures.”

The institution also claimed that the delegation of judge Beșu was not extended for exclusively professional reasons and that in fact he is attempting “a dangerous mystification of the truth”.

CAB notifies the Judicial Inspection, CSM, CSAT and CNSAS

Also, the CAB leadership requested that judge Beșu clarify “without delay and without equivocation” the compatibility between his previous status and the legal requirements regarding the incompatibility with activities under the authority or job of the intelligence services.

“By its nature and consequences, this situation generates a major impact on the proper functioning of the judicial act. The seriousness of the judge's statements require that the Judicial Inspectorate, CSM, CSAT and CNSAS clarify the aspects that are looming over all the elements of this case, meaning that we will make appropriate requests”, concluded the CAB in the reaction sent a day after the publication of the “Captured Justice” investigation.

Recorder disclosures

The documentary “Captured Justice” was published on Tuesday evening by the Recorder on its YouTube channel.

The film is an investigation about the state of justice in Romania, the phenomenon of statutes of limitations, but also the effects of the centralization of power at the level of “some magistrates who coexist with politicians”.

In the Recorder documentary, the military prosecutor Liviu Lascu, Crin Bologa, the former chief prosecutor of the DNA between the periods of Laura Codruța Kovesi and Marius Voineag, but also a prosecutor from the DNA and a judge from the Court of Appeal, who spoke anonymously, were interviewed.

Claudiu Sandu, representative of the prosecutors in the CSM, said that the excessively formal interpretation of the law led to the annulment of the evidence in the file “for anything”, for what he metaphorized as “a comma”.

“We ended up reinventing the law,” said Sandu, who said that “I don't remember a big guilty verdict lately.” The massacre of the idea of ​​justice, said Sandu, demobilizes the magistrates and disarms the citizens.