Yahoo – AFP,
February 2, 2017
Bucharest
(AFP) - Romanians protested in huge numbers this week against government
decrees that many fear will undermine the long battle against an insidious
phenomenon that has long plagued the EU country: corruption.
The biggest
demonstrations since the fall of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989
saw as many as 300,000 people hit the streets overnight Wednesday to Thursday
in the capital Bucharest and other cities.
This
followed the issuing of a government decree 24 hours earlier that
decriminalises certain corruption offences and makes abuse of power punishable
by jail only if the sums involved exceed 44,000 euros ($47,500).
Brussels is watching
The
European Union has long taken Romania to task over slow progress dealing with
corruption and organised crime since the ex-communist country joined the bloc
together with Bulgaria in 2007.
Brussels
has carried out what is known as a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM)
review on both countries even though both have chafed at the procedure, feeling
they are being unfairly targeted.
Graft
watchdog Transparency International ranked Romania below all but three of its
fellow EU states in a January report based on public perception of the
prevalence of corruption. Worldwide, the country ranked 57th in the world.
Between
2014 and 2016, 1,171 people were found guilty of abuses of power which
collectively earned them a fine surpassing a billion euros ($1.1 billion). More
than 2,000 cases remain open.
A total of
27 officials, including former prime minister Victor Ponta, have faced justice
in Romania in 2015, a national record. Aside from Ponta, five ministers, 16
lawmakers and five senators faced trials.
Former
social democratic prime minister Adrian Nastase is the most eye-catching case
of a former high-ranking official to be found guilty. He received two jail
terms on two counts of corruption, marking a turning point in the anti-graft
fight.
Nastase was
found guilty of misusing 1.5 million euros of funds for an unsuccessful 2004
presidential campaign and attempted suicide in a bid to avoid jail. Released in
the first instance in 2013, he was again placed behind bars in early 2014 for
receiving bribes totalling 630,000 euros before being released seven months
later.
Ponta
stands accused of graft on two counts, the more recent linked to campaign
financing which saw him take office in 2012.
Ponta is
accused of soliciting financial aid from a businessman to cover the costs of a
trip to Bucharest by a "foreign political personality" -- in the
shape of former British leader Tony Blair. In exchange the businessman, who
said he stumped up 220,000 euros to promote the trip, would receive a seat in
parliament.
In another
case, in 2015, Ponta was accused on 17 counts including forgery and complicity
in tax evasion as well as money laundering between 2007-2011, when he was
working as a lawyer.
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