Romania’s National Anticorruption Department DNA has asked for the Senate’s OK to start the prosecution of former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea. The prosecutors accuse Oprea, who is also a Senator, of abuse of office in two related cases.

In one of the cases, the prosecutors accuse Oprea of illegally using the motorcade in the period when he was a minister (between January 2014 and November 2015). The law states that only the President, the Prime Minister, and the presidents of the Parliament’s two chambers can use motorcades to facilitate their move through traffic while the ministers can only do so in the case of emergency.

However, it seems that Oprea used the motorcade for various trips: when he was going to the Ministry or Government meetings, for private visits, to go to political parties’ headquarters or even restaurants.

“The evidence shows that Minister Gabriel Oprea made five trips per day, on average, during which he was accompanied by the traffic police,” according to DNA.

Gabriel Oprea used the motorcade 1,607 times between January 2 and October 21, 2015. The figure is around three times higher than the number of times the President has used the motorcade in the same period.

In a related case, the prosecutors also accuse Oprea of concluding a protocol under which Romania's General Prosecutor Tiberiu Nitu also illegally benefited from the police motorcades.

However, soon after finding out about DNA’s request, Oprea said that he was not guilty and would defend his rights, reports local Mediafax.

Gabriel Oprea came under public scrutiny after a motorcycle policeman died while on a mission in Bucharest, as he fell into an open pit in the road. The accident occured while the policeman was part of Oprea's motorcade in a dark and rainy evening in October last year.

Romania’s Interior Minister breaks silence one week after policeman’s death.

After the tragedy in Colectiv club at the end of October last year, the protesters who went to the streets asked for Gabriel Oprea's resignation from Romania's Government. However, Oprea only resigned after Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced his resignation, ending his Government's mandate.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com