A supporter of Călin Georgescu, definitively sentenced to suspended prison after hitting a gendarme at the “Turul 2 back” protest in Victoriei Square
A supporter of Călin Georgescu was definitively sentenced by the Bucharest Court of Appeal to a two-year suspended prison term for insult, after hitting a gendarme in the face, while participating in the “Turul 2 back” protest, held in Piața Victoriei on February 10 at the call of the sovereignist leader, according to Agerpres.
It is a driver from Iași, Dacian George Pruteanu, known for his pro-Georgescu positions and for being violent at protests.
Initially, in July, Dacian George Pruteanu was sentenced to one year suspended by the 1st District Court and to perform 90 days of community service, a sentence increased by the Bucharest Court of Appeal to two years suspended.
It should be noted that he was in preventive detention between February and July 2025.
“He was on guard and he punched me”
On February 10, the day Klaus Iohannis announced his resignation, hundreds of people gathered in Piața Victoriei, at the urging of Călin Georgescu, to protest the cancellation of the second round of the presidential elections.
During the demonstration, there were several incidents between the sovereignist supporters and the gendarmes, among those extracted from the crowd was Dacian George Pruteanu, accused of hitting a gendarme in the face.
The file also contains the statement of the gendarme hit by Dacian George Pruteanu: “On 10.02.2025, on the occasion of a protest organized in Piața Victoriei, I ensured public order in the area. I was in the cordon of the fence, when I noticed that certain people started pulling at the metal fences installed to delimit the space where the protest was organized. I moved to that area in support of my colleagues, as the respective people opened the fences and they started pushing them into my colleagues. I grabbed a fence to stop two people who were on the other side of the fence, at which point I tried to take him back to where he was originally. Among those people was a man wearing a black jacket with white sleeves and a white fez, who he shouted and cursed. He, seeing that he was supported by the people behind him, came towards me, started gesticulating with his hands, took a guard position”.
The gendarme continues: “The moment I saw him, I took out the telescopic baton, and when he saw this he retreated a little but then put his hand on the metal fence, pulling on it. At that moment, I hit him with the telescopic baton across the hand. He retreated two to three meters back and turned towards the colleague next to me, gesticulating and cursing. He approached about 1m from my colleague and, thinking that he would I went towards him and hit him in the forearm, but he turned towards me, with his back to the street, where the traffic was not yet closed. I stopped to look behind me for a second, because I did not know what was there from me, he punched me in the head area, more precisely on the left side. He tried to punch me a second time but he didn't succeed. Later, the person in question stepped back, and I fell on my right side and on the asphalt. He retreated back. I saw him again, shouting and swearing, but he was wearing black sweatpants and a black vest. I suggested that we take him to the ambulance and started swearing at the police. My colleagues approached him handcuffed because he resisted (…) I was examined at the INML from a medico-legal point of view, on which occasion it was found that I had traumatic injuries that require 5-6 days of medical care to heal”.
During the trial, the man admitted that he had an altercation with the gendarmes, but that he jumped to the aid of “women and old people”.
“I was in Piața Victoriei at a peaceful, spontaneous protest. At one point, while having tea with some ladies in the center of the square, I saw at a distance of about 10-20 m that several people were in the middle of the road, pushing the metal fences put up by the gendarmes there, and one or two gendarmes with batons in the air. Then I went in that direction, to help the people there, who were women and old people. In the moment I saw one of the gendarmes with the baton in the air, I tried to hit him with my fist, but the gendarme hit me on the hand with the baton, I pushed forward with my hands, then we sat down to show them that we were peaceful, maybe more, I smoked a cigarette and when I looked at my hands I found that I had blood on my right wrist and my left thumb. I then went to the car, where I changed my clothes and came back. I chanted some more slogans, I left the market and came back for a few hours. At one point, I wanted to leave the crowd and then they came to me. 10 gendarmes knocked me to the ground and took me to the van and later to the police station. I mention that the gendarmes sprayed tear gas in my direction. If I somehow hit that gendarme, I'm sorry.”
Although the judges state that the deed committed by Dacian George Pruteanu presents a high degree of social danger and hit a representative of the state, they imposed a suspended sentence on him, on the grounds that he has university studies, the occupation of driver, no criminal record, he admitted his deed and had a good conduct throughout the process.
