“Captured Justice”. Petition for the “emergency dismissal” of Cătălin Predoiu, who was Minister of Justice for 7 years
30 hours after the launch of a Declic petition demanding the “urgent dismissal of Minister Cătălin Predoiu”, more than 11,000 people signed the initiative. The current Minister of the Interior was the Minister of Justice for 7 years, including when the last changes were made to the laws of justice, in 2023, and he is the one who proposed the current head of the DNA, Marius Voineag, accused in the Recorder investigation, and the Prosecutor General Alex Florența. Since the publication of the Recorder documentary on Tuesday evening, until now Cătălin Predoiu has not had any public reaction.
Cătălin Predoiu is currently Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs (MAI). He is the only minister who, since 2008, has been a constant presence in Romanian governments. He held the position of Minister of Justice during the following periods:
- February 2008-May 2012 (Boc governments)
- November 2019-December 2020 (Orban Government)
- November 2021-June 2023 (Government of Ciucă)
He was Minister for Justice and when the Justice Acts were amended in 2023, which gave more power to the heads of public prosecutor's offices and courts, one of the themes covered in the Recorder documentary 'Captured Justice'.
“The main political responsibility for the disastrous state of the justice system”
The more than 11,000 people who signed, until the time of writing this news, the Declic petition claim that Predoiu “is the main political responsible for the disastrous state of the justice system, being the longest-serving Minister of Justice in post-December history, as well as the main driver of the clientelistic system that favors and promotes corruption between the justice and political systems”.
The signatories' reaction follows revelations in the Recorder documentary “Captured Justice”.
“Nicknamed the “collector of tragedies” for the complicity of the Romanian Police and the MAI in many of the more than 50 femicides committed in recent months, the trail of tragedies generated or maintained by Cătălin Predoiu, current Minister of the Interior, penetrates much deeper to the core of what Romanians call justice and law enforcement”, according to the signatories.
The petition's signatories believe that, as long as Cătălin Predoiu is in the government, “no reform that involves restoring public trust in any of the justice or internal systems can begin.”
“At this moment, Romania is a textbook case of patronage democracy, where the functioning of institutions based on the law is hijacked by clientelistic interests, based on personal, economic and political relationships. This reality affects every honest Romanian at every moment of their life or activity and exclusively favors corruption. Public involvement and pressure on the Parliament and the Government can produce change”, according to the signatories.
And the Judges' Forum says it has drawn attention that the changes to justice laws have “moved away” from an ideal
The “Forum of Judges” claimed on Wednesday that, in recent years, it has constantly brought to the attention of the authorities “the need to adopt some reforms through which the Romanian judiciary will regain the elements necessary for its function based on the principles of independence, meritocracy, efficiency and responsibility”.
The new justice laws, adopted in 2022, have moved away from this ideal, the judicial system experiencing a serious regression, emphasizes the Romanian Judges' Forum Association (AFJR), in the press release.
After the Recorder documentary, the “Forum of Judges” Association again asks the authorities “to adopt without delay courageous reforms to strengthen the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary”
Bolojan, about Cătălin Predoiu: “Obviously he has a responsibility for what happened in these years”
Invited on Wednesday to the “Friendly Fire” podcast by journalists Moise Guran and Vlad Petreanu, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan spoke about the Recorder documentary and Minister Cătălin Predoiu.
“No man who has held a public office can evade a certain responsibility. This is the truth. And all the ministers of Justice, including Mr. Predoiu, those who were before him, those who are now, have a responsibility within the limits of the tools they have and the possibilities they have, to correct the negative things that have accumulated”, said Bolojan.
“Mr. Predoiu, being the Minister of Justice for a period of time, obviously has a responsibility for what happened in these years, just as I have a responsibility for how Oradea looks because I was the mayor of Oradea”, said the head of the Government.
Bolojan says he understands the “emotion created” after the Recorder revelations, although he hasn't seen the documentary / Unexpected attack on Predoiu: “He obviously has a responsibility”
Cătălin Predoiu is the one who proposed, in February 2023, the current head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, prosecutor Marius Voineag, and the general prosecutor of Romania, Alex Florența. He is also the one who nominated the former general prosecutor Gabriela Scutea and the former head of DIICOT Giorgiana Hosu, who resigned after her husband was convicted of corruption. Hosu and Scutea then retired, at 48 and 50 respectively.
