Protests across Romania against changes in Laws of Justice
Thusands of people went out on the streets on Sunday evening in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to protest against a governmental emergency ordinance that changes the Laws of Justice and endangers the rule of law.
Articol de Radiojurnal, 25 Februarie 2019, 21:39
Thusands of people went out on the streets on Sunday evening in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to protest against a governmenta
l emergency ordinance that changes the Laws of Justice and endangers the rule of law.In Bucharest, people blocked traffic outside government's headquarters and shouted "Justice, not corruption" and "Shame!", RRA Reporter Iulian Olescu says. Protests also took place in front of the premises of the Justice Ministry.
Romania’s magistrates have denounced the decree, have refused to meet with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila to discuss this emergency ordinance and have demanded that this ordinance is entirely revoked. "Independence of the judiciary is non-negotiable", magistrates' associations say. "Any dialogue regarding ordinance approval should have taken place before and not after approval. The only solution left now is to revoke the decree in its entirety".
General Assembly of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors decided on Monday to suspend activity between 26 February and 8 March, between 08:00hrs - 12:20hrs, as a protest against adoption by the Government of OUG No.7/2019, which amends the Justice Laws.
According to the DIICOT release, in this interval, only emergencies will be solved, namely the cases involving arrests or any other operative situations that cannot be delayed.
Protesters shouted messages in support of former Head Prosecutor of National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi and of magistrates who rejected amendments to justice laws. They also chanted slogans against PSD leader Liviu Dragnea and the Government, according to Hotnews.ro.
RRA local correspondents announce that around 2000 people protested in Cluj, calling for dismissal of Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. Also over 1200 people went out on the streets of Brașov, 4000 in Sibiu and several hundred in Iași, Galați, Reșița, Timișoara, Oradea, Pitești or Constanța.
Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei
