Romanian court rejects prosecutors' bid to detain owner of Bihor illegal care homes
Viorel Paşca, his wife, and his three sons, as well as the coordinator of activities at the illegal care homes in Bihor county, will continue to be investigated while free, after the Bucharest Court of Appeal rejected the DIICOT prosecutors' request for pre-trial detention and also removed them from judicial supervision in a final decision, according to Digi24.
The court found the prosecutor’s appeal for pre-trial detention unfounded and overturned an earlier ruling that placed the defendants under judicial supervision. The decision was described by Viorel Pașca’s lawyer as a “total victory.”
“Fundamental rights and freedoms cannot be restricted simply because the accusations sound serious or because the case was publicly presented as an exceptional one. In a state governed by the rule of law, justice is not measured by the number of masked police officers, flashing lights, or press releases. It is measured by evidence, by law, and by reasoned decisions,” said lawyer Răzvan Doseanu on Facebook.
The Bihor illegal care homes case broke at the end of last month, 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.
“We tried to help these people, we tried to save their lives, and I am not exaggerating when I say this, because they came from extremely unfavorable conditions and, I repeat, my conscience is clear; I never wanted to do harm,” Viorel Paşca said last week at the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
Alongside Viorel Paşca, those initially detained were his wife, Florica Paşca, his three sons, Viorel-Emanuel, Abel-Timotei, and Daniel-Sabin Paşca, as well as Delia Mioara Păcală, the coordinator of activities at the illegal care homes in Bihor and the person who directly managed staff and admissions.
The case handled by DIICOT concerns the dismantling of a complex organized criminal group accused of human trafficking and exploitation of vulnerability on an alarming scale in Bihor county. Prosecutors claim that hundreds of elderly individuals, people with severe mental disabilities, and homeless people were turned into simple “sources of income” under the guise of charitable activity.
The network operated under the cover of the “Dumbrava DPG” Association (Dumnezeu Poartă de Grijă - “God Takes Care”), publicly presented as a humanitarian organization, but which in reality did not hold the legal licenses required to provide social or medical services. However, despite operating illegally, many of the people housed in these care homes were brought there from multiple hospital units and social assistance directorates.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos|Mălina Norocea)
