Romania: 1,300 officials prosecuted for graft last year


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Nearly 1,300 officials were sent to trial last year in Romania in corruption cases with damages amounting to 260 million euros ($273 million), the country's chief anti-corruption prosecutor said Thursday.

Laura Kovesi Codruta, who heads the country's anti-graft agency, said three ministers, 17 lawmakers, 16 magistrates and 20 state company officials were among high-level cases targeted by the agency last year.

Kovesi, presenting the agency's annual report to senior judges, prosecutors and magistrates at the ornate National Military Circle in downtown Bucharest, said prosecutors need predictable laws to do their job.

Last month, the government issued a highly contentious decree that would have decriminalized official misconduct, sparking weeks of massive anti-graft protests. Premier Sorin Grindeanu eventually canceled the measure.

Kovesi said: "We want to fight corruption" but "efforts need to be sustained by a stable legislative and institutional framework." She said one in four of the agency's prosecutions is a case of abuse of office.

President Klaus Iohannis called Romania's anti-corruption drive, praised by Western allies, "necessary.... if we want a modern state," adding "at the beginning of this year... (it) was really put to the test."

"Romania is not only a model of good practice, but a source of inspiration for citizens of other countries to publicly show they refuse to accept acts of corruption," Iohannis said.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent World stories

Related topics

World
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast