Bucharest Court of Appeals gives reasoning in Bihor unauthorized care homes case
The Bucharest Court of Appeal rejected the accusations of human trafficking and organized criminal group made against Viorel Pașca, the owner of an authorized care homes network in Bihor County, western Romania, when it ruled against his detention back in July.
The information emerged from the reasoning of the judge, now made public, who decided on July 16 that Viorel Pașca and his family members should be investigated while at liberty, an opinion contrary to that of the other magistrate from the Bucharest Tribunal who considered that “there are reasonable suspicions” against Pașca.
“At least at first glance”, the manner in which the injured persons were treated in Pașca’s nursing homes “does not present characteristic elements of keeping persons in a state of slavery or subjecting them to procedures similar to deprivation of liberty or servitude,” the Court of Appeals judge said, according to Digi24.
DIICOT prosecutors had said that the victims were treated improperly, and that money intended for their care did not serve the stated purpose.
However, the judge rejected DIICOT’s accusations. The sums of money were not appropriated by Pașca and his family, according to the evidence presented.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal also maintained that “the accommodated persons benefited from basic medical assistance.” Those in the care homes had “periodic medical consultations, including psychiatric specialist consultations, from prescribed and monitored treatments, from recreational activities and from assistance in carrying out current activities.”
The judge further mentioned that “persons with mental illnesses were involved in various activities carried out within the community and benefited from bodily hygiene services - haircuts, washing, shaving, as well as clean clothing and linen.”
Among deficiencies, the Court noted the fact that the persons dealing with the care of the sick and the administration of medicines had an extremely low educational level. Some did not have the ability to read and write.
Similarly, several accommodated persons did not benefit “in all situations” from “the medical treatment corresponding to the illnesses they suffered from.” Moreover, some of the patients contributed to the administration of medicines. The staff dealing with the care of the elderly was insufficient;
However, these shortcomings, the judge of the Bucharest Court of Appeal maintained, are due to “the lack of financial resources, and not at all to the fact that the defendants appropriated the money from which the patients benefited from the received donations.”
At the same time, the judge further said that the aid received from the state by vulnerable persons (such as a pension or any other form of social assistance) would not have allowed them to live in better conditions than those ensured by Viorel Pașca’s family.
The Bihor illegal care homes case broke at the end of June, uncovering similarities with another, more serious case from 2023. Unlike the latter, however, the situation of the care homes in Bihor is not as clear, leading many to argue that Viorel Pașca and his association were doing their best with the available resources, taking care of patients who had been abandoned by state institutions.
Ever since then, Viorel Paşca defended the activity of his association, which housed vulnerable people despite the fact that it lacked a license to do so.
(Photo source: stavrio|Dreamstime.com)
