Justice laws changes: Romania’s civil society appeals to the president, more protests

Nineteen associations and online communities have sent a message to Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis asking him to use his constitutional attributions of a mediator and “all means” so as to prevent the country from becoming a “failed rule of law project, captured by crime networks.” The letter comes as protests took place in several cities in western Romania this past weekend, and another one is planned for Bucharest on January 20. The authors of the letter are also asking the head of the state to ask for a point of view from the Venice Commission in what the justice laws are concerned. A similar suggestion was made by several EU member states in a joint letter sent at the end of last year. The associations point to the wider abuse against justice that the law changes entails. “We are now talking about endangering the independence of prosecutors and about subordinating the power of the judges to the political. It is a situation of unprecedented gravity, pointed to as such by numerous independent state institutions, European institutions, professional judicial organizations, and partners in the EU and NATO,” a Facebook message of the associations reads. The signatories of the letter argue that allowing the justice laws changes to take effect would “concede to exiting from the European law framework, and, implicitly, out of the most important international treaty assumed by Romania, meaning the EU accession treaty.” They also said the president’s role as a mediator “has never been so vital. […] We believe that, by using the constitutional instruments at your service you can decisively contribute to extinguishing the conflict and safeguarding Romania’s European destiny.” The message is signed by #activAG Piteşti, Galaţi Civic Action, Aradul Civic Assoctaion, Asociaţia Civică ProFest, Oradea Civică Association,”Vă vedem din Sibiu” Community, Corupţia Ucide, #Insist Civic Group, Iniţiativa România, Iniţiativa Timişoara, Rezist Constanţa, Rezist în Bacău, #Rezist Liguria, #Rezist Milano, Rezist Râmnicu Vâlcea, #REZISTENŢA, România Vie (Live Romania), Ştafeta Steagului Uniunii Europene (The Relay of the European Union Flag) and Cuza Vrea Dreptate (Cuza Wants Justice). Meanwhile, the silent protest in Sibiu, in central Romania, was restarted on Monday, January 8. The protest took place for 12 days in a row before Christmas last year. It is organized in front of the headquarters of the Social Democrat Party (PSD). On January 6, some 200 students, coming from 15 university centers in the country, protested in the western Romania city of Timisoara against the changes to the justice laws. The students brought a casket wrapped in the Romanian flag, wrote “Justice” on it and lit candles around it. They chanted slogans such as “The law is for everybody, not for the thieves,” “My student dream, a country without theft,” and “We have gathered from all over the country to protest in Timisoara.” Timisoara is the city where the Romanian revolution of 1989 started.