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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Applications for the post of chief anti-corruption prosecutor — one of the most prestigious but also most scrutinized jobs in Romania — have been slow in coming.
As Monday's deadline loomed, however, Romanian media reported that two senior prosecutors at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate had expressed interest in the job, with one formally applying for the post.
The job was advertised after Laura Codruta Kovesi was fired July 9 for alleged misconduct and incompetence, though what critics said it was a government attempt to rein in the anti-corruption fight.
Kovesi's dismissal raised concerns at home and abroad about the country's commitment to fight corruption.
Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, who engineered Kovesi's departure, said Monday that potential candidates hadn't applied because they believed the selection process was rigged— which he stressed it wasn't.
Toader accused Kovesi of being authoritarian and claimed that prosecutors under her command had falsified evidence and that an inordinate number of defendants had been acquitted.
She has denied wrongdoing.
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