Blockade in the file in which Călin Georgescu is tried for legionary propaganda. A third judge will tip the balance after the first two had different opinions
Calin Georgescu leaves the headquarters of the General Prosecutor's Office, after bringing the former presidential candidate, Calin Georgescu, to hearings in Bucharest, February 26, 2025. Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The file is now in the preliminary chamber where it is decided whether the indictment is correctly drawn up in order to start the trial.
At today's deadline, February 6, the two judges from the Bucharest Court announced that a third judge is needed to decide whether the trial can begin or the file will be sent back to the prosecutors. The divergence panel is due to meet on February 9.
The Bucharest court was expected to rule on Friday on the appeal that Călin Georgescu filed against the decision of the 1st District Court, which on December 9, last year, decided to start the trial in which Călin Georgescu will respond to accusations of legionnaire propaganda. The trial court rejected all the exceptions that Călin Georgescu raised.
Because during the deliberations the two judges of the panel had different opinions, the divergence occurred, according to the procedures, a third judge should be co-opted into the panel.
“The divergence is noted and the trial of the case will be resumed in full on the divergence. It sets a deadline of 09.02.2026, at 11:00 a.m., for when the appellant will be summoned and the chosen lawyer will be informed”, according to the minutes published on Friday on the court's website.
The three judges will resume the hearing of the appeal, determining, definitively, whether the trial will begin or the file will be returned to the prosecutor's office.
What accusations are brought against the former presidential candidate
Călin Georgescu was sent to court at the beginning of July 2025 for the crimes of promoting, in public, the cult of persons guilty of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as the act of promoting, in public, fascist, legionary, racist or xenophobic ideas, concepts or doctrines, in a continuous form.
The prosecutors accuse that Georgescu “affirmed over time, in interviews, statements or posts in the online environment, his pro-legionary ideological consistency/connections in the neo-legionary environment with promoters of the neo-legionary ideology, with the aim of producing a change of perception regarding the historical framing of the Legionary Movement, in an attempt to normalize and revitalize legionaryism and the historical figures connected to this ideology, in which sense he made several eulogizing/laudatory statements to Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Ion Antonescu, Ion Moța”.
The acts for which Călin Georgescu – the former presidential candidate, who won the first round of the 2024 elections, which were later annulled by the CCR – was sent to court were committed between June 16, 2020 and May 16, 2025, according to the indictment. The two crimes detained by the prosecutors are punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 3 years and the prohibition of certain rights.
Călin Georgescu is being tried in this case under judicial control, the measure being extended on February 3 by the judges.
The second file
In mid-September, Călin Georgescu was sent to court in the second case. Horațiu Potra and 20 of his mercenaries are indicted alongside him.
Georgescu is accused of complicity in attempting to commit actions against the constitutional order and communication of false information. He is also accused of complicity in the attempt to commit actions against the constitutional order and communication of false information.
And this file is now in the preliminary chamber at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The next deadline will be on February 11.
