US Embassy: We encourage PM, president, Supreme Court of Magistrates to reach an agreement in chief prosecutor positions

The US Embassy recently issued an official statement in response to the proposals for chief prosecutor and the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency DNA, made last week by the Romanian Prime Minister, as interim Justice Minister. “The U.S. Embassy has maintained consistently that it is critically important to nominate independent and qualified prosecutors. We are pleased that nominations have been made and the consultative process can now move forward. We encourage the Prime Minister (as acting Minister of Justice), the President, and the Superior Council of Magistrates to continue working cooperatively to reach agreement on these vitally important positions in as expeditious a manner as possible,” reads the US Embassy's statement.

The proposals for chief prosecutor and head of DNA triggered comments from all sides, including from co-head of the Social Liberal Union and the Prime Minister's ally, Crin Antonescu. Prime Minister Ponta's nomination of Laura Codruta Kovesi, who used to be the chief prosecutor, at the helm of DNA, displeased coalition allies the National Liberal Party, whose leader Crin Antonescu recently made some harsh statements, which could mark the beginning of the end for the Social Liberal Union USL. Tiberiu Niţu was the PM's proposal for chief prosecutor, but that too triggered comments, as Nitu had been rejected in the past by the Supreme Court of Magistrates. “The Institute of Public Policies disagrees with re-nominated a prosecutor who has already been rejected by the prosecutors via the Supreme Court of Magistrates. We'd be surprised if president Traian Basescu approved his naming after having already rejected it in the past,” according to a statement from the Institute of Public Policies. A few others were on the proposal lists: Bogdan Licu was Ponta's proposal for deputy chief prosecutor, Alina Bica as chief prosecutor at the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism - DIICOT – and Elena Hosu as deputy chief prosecutor at DIICOT. Only a prosecutor with proven experience can handle corruption investigations, given the widespread corruption in Romania, and the country is not willing to experiment by placing any other kind of prosecutor at the helm of its anti-corruption agency, the IPP concluded. editor@romania-insider.com (in picture: Duane Butcher, charge d'affairs, US Embassy to Romania, photo source: US Embassy website)