Ilie Bolojan, the first reaction to the accusations against Radu Marinescu: “Plagiarism is a form of theft”. Under what conditions will the Minister of Justice lose his position
Ilie Bolojan Photo: Lucian Alecu / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared, on TVR, that “an independent entity” needs to assess whether Radu Marinescu's doctoral thesis is plagiarized or not. At the same time, the head of the government invoked the “personal evaluation” and “political evaluation” of the ministers by the parties that proposed them to the cabinet.
Ilie Bolojan stated that he had a discussion with the Minister of Justice on Tuesday morning. “The things he is accused of didn't happen during his ministerial mandate, but 15-20 years ago, and I try to evaluate my colleagues by what they do during their ministerial mandate,” said Bolojan.
Although he considers plagiarism a form of theft, the prime minister claims that such a verdict must be confirmed by a specialized institution.
“Plagiarism, which is a form of theft, let's be very clear, is not appreciated and this is understood by any person who knows the value of work (…) I hope that an independent entity will assess whether this plagiarism is real or not. I understand that he no longer teaches at the university and obtaining this doctorate no longer has an effect on his career, but we must discuss very openly: any person who holds a public position is performing or not and depending on the authority he has. Clarification in any situations like that, it is good August so as to preserve the credibility of a responsible person and to keep your authority so that it gives results”, said the prime minister.
On the observation that there were ministers – Ionuț Moșteanu and Dragoș Anastasiu – who lost their positions after scandals related to integrity, Bolojan said: “Here are aspects related to personal assessment, to the political assessment that every party that supports its ministers makes.”
When he was explicitly asked if Marinescu will lose his position only if there is a verdict from an academic institution regarding the accusations of plagiarism, Ilie Bolojan answered: “Otherwise it is an accusation and it enters an area of speculation, of things related to the chronology of the date when this information appeared, but that is the situation at the moment.”
Emilia Şercan's accusations
PressOne published a press investigation on Monday, signed by journalist Emilia Șercan, which shows that more than half of the doctoral thesis in Law of the Minister of Justice, Radu Marinescu, is plagiarized. According to the analysis, at least 56.68% of the pages of the work entitled The system of evidence in the civil process contain text copied from other authors, more precisely 140 of the 247 pages of the work.
Radu Marinescu, reacted to the PressOne investigation published by journalist Emilia Șercan in which he is accused of having massively plagiarized his doctoral thesis, the Minister of Justice stating that “the truth cannot be synonymous with simple media allegations, even bizarre” and insisting that his thesis was “in accordance with the legislation at that time”.
The PSD sent a press release a few hours after the journalist Emilia Șercan published the analysis of the doctoral thesis of the Minister of Justice, with the title “The system of means of evidence in the civil process”.
Dominic Fritz, the first reaction in connection with the accusations of plagiarism against Radu Marinescu / Appeal to the PSD
The Social Democrats say they will continue to support the Minister of Justice “without reservations” and “condemn the vile maneuver by which he was accused of plagiarism, immediately after he announced that the appointments of the heads of the high-ranking prosecutor's offices will not be of a political nature.”
PSD, unreserved support for Marinescu
The PSD accuses a political attack aimed at the dismissal of the minister. “If the approach had been in good faith, the accusations against the minister would have been formulated at the time of his appointment to the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, not exactly now when he started the legal procedures for the appointment of the heads of prosecutors, stating that he will not allow political interference!”, says the statement sent by the party.
In addition, the social democrats virulently attack the journalist Emilia Șercan, whom they accuse of imposture and plagiarism: “A person cannot substitute himself for the legal institutions of the state and cannot give verdicts that clearly contradict the official decisions of these courts, even less when the person in question is himself an impostor and plagiarized his own bachelor's thesis.
Message of support from Emilia Șercan from the Faculty of Journalism, after the PSD attacks: “Incitement to hatred can degenerate”
As such, the PSD grants Minister Radu Marinescu its full political support for the fulfillment of the mandate and will categorically oppose any attempts of political subordination of Justice”.
