People are taking to the streets again. March for justice announced in Bucharest / What the protesters demand on the fifth day of demonstrations
Protest for the independence of justice, Piața Victoriei, December 13. Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
After several days of protests triggered by the publication of the documentary “Captured Justice”, made by Recorder, people are expected again on Sunday in the streets, this time in a march for justice, scheduled to start from the University Square and reach the Victoriei Square.
The participants will gather from 17:00 at the fountain at the University, and the march will start at 18:00 to Piața Victoriei, according to the announcement made on Facebook.
The organizers – Corruption kills, Protest for an independent justice, Resistance, MEA Association, Romania Initiative and Declic – say that the Sunday march is a gesture of support for the magistrates who have spoken publicly about the irregularities in the system and a form of civic pressure for justice reform.
Protests have already taken place since Wednesday, the day after the release of the documentary, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“The courage of the magistrates who decided to come forward and talk about the irregularities in the judicial system and the corruption on a large scale must be supported from the streets. We cannot stay at home,” the organizers said.
“What happens in Justice affects us all. Just as corruption affects our lives every day. We go out to Piața Victoriei, the place where we managed to stop the horror that was OUG 13, to stop another horror: Justice captured by the corrupt,” they say.
On Saturday evening, Piața Victoriei was once again the site of a large-scale demonstration, attended by around 8,000 people at its peak, according to HotNews estimates. “Lia, resignation!”, “Those who don't jump, prescribe files”, “Justice without phones!” and “Get out of the house if you care!” the demonstrators shouted.
Protests also took place in front of the Craiova Court, at the Court of Appeal in Cluj-Napoca, but also in front of the Satu Mare Court.
What do the protesters demand?
According to the organizers, the demands of the protest aim at changes in the management and functioning of the judicial system. The protesters demand the dismissal of the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Lia Savonea, the dismissal of the leadership of the National Anticorruption Directorate and the dismissal of the Minister of Justice, Cătălin Predoiu, in whose mandate the facts reported in the Recorder documentary occurred.
They also request the revision of the powers of the Superior Council of the Magistracy and the elimination, through legislation, of the “gateways” that allow the postponement of criminal trials until the statute of limitations.
“Captured Justice”
Recorder published an investigation on Tuesday evening about the state of justice in Romania, the phenomenon of prescriptions, but also the effects of the centralization of power at the level of “some magistrates who cohabit 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.
The Recorder's investigation highlighted concrete cases in which defendants politically connected or very powerful in terms of business, such as Marian Vanghelie, Cristian Burci or Puiu Popoviciu, benefited from trials extended until the statute of limitations.
The prolongation of the trials was achieved by changing the court panels by the management of the courts, including the change in the moment when the sentence was to be pronounced.
