Crin Antonescu's speech about drug dealers, similar to a former president accused of crimes against humanity, draws attention to an expert. “Not the hardness of the law is the problem”

“As realistic as possible, such statements are similar to those of the former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, recently entered the custody of the International Criminal Court for Crimes against Humanity,” Vlad Zaha, a criminologist specialized in public drug policies, for Hotnews, following the statements made by the government on Thursday night. Since May, Crin Antonescu, regarding the drastic punishment of drug dealers.

The former PNL leader said, in a show at Antena 3, that drug dealers “must be punished with maximum harshness and prevented from spreading this scourge, this dehumanization and this death”, and “children who consume should not be in this situation or must be recovered after they have arrived.”

“Here I would do like China, I would shoot them on the stadium,” said Antonescu, referring to the traffickers.

“As realistic as possible, such statements are similar to those of the former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Durte, recently entered the custody of the International Criminal Court for Crimes against Humanity due to the war against the drug and which generated the killing of tens of thousands,” Vlad Zaha said.

“It is all the more serious what Crin Antonescu said, as Romania is among the last countries in Europe and in the developed international world that (the author's underline, no) differentiates the drug trafficking from the use of drugs – thus, a heroin consuming person that handles another person a syringe is, in the Romanian legislation, a human being, The trafficker, in Romania ”, the expert also drew attention.

“The capital punishment does not discourage any kind of crime”

According to Vlad Zaha, the punishments for the most serious forms of drug trafficking have, in Romania, the limits of 15-25 years in prison, as well as the limits for high treason, so that, according to the criminologist, “not the hardness of the law is the problem”.

“The problem is that 75% of the entire DIICOT file is for drugs (over 30,000 active), of which 80% files are below 5 grams with an average of about 1 gram/capture. Most law enforcement is occupied with such files for consumer punishment, and as a Euronews investigation shows, an important part of the file or organization is organized. by prosecutors in traffickers, ”Zaha said for Hotnews.

“The fact that Mr. Antonescu has statements similar to a criminal against humanity becomes even more serious as the” shot “would be mostly young consumers,” the expert insisted.

“The international consensus is that the capital punishment does not discourage any kind of crime, compared to prison, is a safe source of conviction of the innocent and is used abusively against the vulnerable or minority (where it is still) that has been abandoned by over 100 countries in the last 50 years,” the European Union has been forbidden.

Crin Antonescu: “I know it's serious what I say”

Asked about the case of the 20 -year -old who died this week after a drug overdose, Crin Antonescu said, on Thursday night's show from Antena 3, that he was “a terrible episode” and that an idea that he proposes through his presidential program is the reorganization of the National Anti -Drug Agency (Ana).

“Maximum harshness for traffickers, maximum! I honestly tell you, if I could, I know you can't, here I would like China, shoot them on the stadium.

Antonescu said, however, that he does not intend to reintroduce the death penalty.

“I just wanted to give a voice to a feeling that I think all those who lead Romania should have when I see something like this. Think about being your child who agonized there and who died! Think they came to a dehumanization hall that they could attend it! (…) Antonescu.

In fact, he believes that drug traffickers “must be punished with maximum harshness”.

“The maximum measures against traffickers must also be accompanied with maximum measures from other areas, from education, assistance areas, from NGOs, which really do good work, are very serious NGOs in this field, to help the victims. Because traffickers must be punished with maximum harshness and prevent this, to spread this flag, which should not be done, Situation or must be recovered after they have arrived, ”said Crin Antonescu.

Also on Thursday, but earlier, the candidate of the ruling coalition addressed the phenomenon of drugs and in a press conference, in which he expressed his intention to set up “a Task Force Advisior to the Presidential Administration” if he wins the May elections.

“A real coordination is essential between justice, internal, health and education, so that prevention, intervention and recovery will no longer function fragmented. As president I will set up a Task Force Advistenal in addition to the Presidential Administration, a council consisting of specialists, doctors, non-governmental organizations and people from the land, for the long term, for the long-term The state will provide real support for the exit of addiction, not stigmatization, and chances of healing, “said Antonescu, in the press conference in which he presented the statement he gave to the communist security, in 1988, after the document was issued by CNSAS.

On Wednesday, Hotnews had asked for a clarification from Crin Antonescu's campaign team, after the Coalition candidate spoke, in a post on his Facebook page, that “we must strengthen the National Anti-Drug Agency.” HotNews asked his campaign staff to come with details about this “reinforcement” and how he should “concrete” such an agency in the opinion of the former PNL leader, but has not received a response so far.

At the beginning of his press conference centered on the subject of the document issued by CNSAS, Antonescu approached the subject of “consolidation of the National Anti -Drug” on American model.

“I will support the reorganization and consolidation of the National Anti -drug Agency, according to the model in the United States, a specialized structure with clear prerogatives, sufficient resources and international cooperation, capable of acting efficiently, against traffic networks,” said Crin Antonescu, in his conference.

Antonescu made these statements in the context in which a 20 -year -old died on Tuesday morning after a metadone overdose. He had used drugs in a live that he made Tiktok the previous evening in the house of another young man, who, according to Antena 3, instigated him to consume forbidden substances. The latter, aged 21, was preventively arrested on Thursday for a period of 30 days.

The boy arrested in the file is Tudor Duma, said “Maru”. In a separate case, he was sentenced in the first instance to 4 years and 3 months in prison for drug trafficking and drug detention, but the decision is not final. The young man is accused of providing drugs and Vlad Pascu, the author of the deadly accident of 2023, from May 2.

Rodrigo Dutete will be judged for crimes against humanity

In the middle of March this year, the International Criminal Court (CPI) announced that the former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, accused of crimes against humanity, was introduced in the detention center of this court in the Dutch city of Haga, after “all medical controls”.

The former president was arrested by the Philippine authorities based on a mandate issued by the CPI's preliminary chamber, chaired by the Romanian Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc.

This room, of which the judges Adélaide Sophie Alapini-Ghansou and María del Flores Liera are also included, examined the documents prepared by the CPI prosecutor's office and appreciated that there are reasonable reasons to consider that Rodrigo Durte is individually responsible as an indirect co-author for crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in November 1, 2011 CPI in a statement, on March 13, according to EFE and Agerpres agencies.

“The camera established that there was an attack against a civilian population in order to promote an organizational policy while Duterte was the leader of the Davao Death Squadron (DDS), as well as to promote a state policy as the President of the Philippines. Moreover, there are reasonable reasons to consider this attack on this attack. The course of several years and resulted in thousands of dead, ”mentions the international court.

For his part, the CPI prosecutor, Karim Khan, described the arrest of Dutete as “a significant progress in the search for justice” in the Philippines for the alleged crimes committed in the context of the so-called “war against drugs”.

Duterte, 79 years old, will thus become the first former head of Asian state judged by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a court founded in 1998.

The arrest warrant issued by the CPI states that, as president, Duterte created, funded and armed death squads who committed assassinations of alleged drug users and traffickers.

Thousands of dead in the war against drugs triggered by Duterte

The war against drugs was the main pillar of the campaign that propelled Duterte in power in 2016. During the six years of mandate, 6,200 suspects were killed in drug operations, according to official police data.

Activists claim that the real number of victims is much higher, with thousands of drug users from the slums shot in mysterious circumstances, some of them being on the supervisory lists of the authorities after they had enrolled for treatment.

Jurists and academics described the arrest and bringing of Dutete to The Hague as “an important moment” for the CPI, which is targeted by sanctions imposed by the US and does not have their own police force to make arrests.

“This is an opportunity for the court to prove that he can manage a large case and can obtain arrests,” said Iva Vukusic, assistant professor of international history at the University of Utrecht.

Duterte led Philippines between 2016 and 2022.

Drugs, photo: Sebastian L | Dreamstime.com