Romanian police are trying to locate a Turkish citizen after he did not return to Rahova Penitentiary, where he was incarcerated for murder. Abdullah Atas is now subject of a nationwide search, while a court issued a European arrest warrant on his name.

In August 2015, Abdullah Atas killed a police officer who had signaled him to stop, intentionally hitting him with his car and carrying him on the hood of the vehicle for several hundred meters. Subsequent tests showed that Atas had consumed alcohol. 

Before this event, Abdullah Atas owned one of the best-known chains of shops selling lighting fixtures in Bucharest. 

According to Bucharest-Rahova Penitentiary, the man, aged 45, was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison for aggravated murder and was serving his sentence under a semi-open regime.

As part of this regime, Atas “benefited from leave in the period January 23–26,” but did not return to the penitentiary. Police searched for the man at his home in the city of Voluntari, but did not find him. He is currently the subject of a nationwide search, classified as one of the “most wanted” individuals. The Bucharest Tribunal also issued a European arrest warrant in his name. 

In the meantime, new images have appeared showing Atas in a restaurant in Bucharest on Saturday, January 24. The state secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bogdan Despescu, told Digi24 that the Turkish businessman is very likely to be in Turkey. The man’s former partner told the police that she was contacted by a man who told her that Atas is in Turkey.

In response to the escape, Romania’s National Administration of Penitentiaries announced that it is carrying out preliminary checks at the Bucharest-Rahova Penitentiary. According to ANP, the measure was taken to clarify the circumstances in which the man benefited from the leave permission and the way in which legal procedures were respected.

The Ministry of Justice also sent an inspection team to the facility to verify compliance with legal and administrative procedures, as well as the manner in which staff duties were performed. Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu noted that Atas had 24 such leaves until now. He added that in the future, detainees may be fitted with electronic bracelets. 

“I requested the budgeting of 6,000 electronic bracelets that will allow monitoring, including those who receive such leaves. I also requested the ANP leadership to analyze using drones and AI systems to monitor detention perimeters or external work areas. AI tools must also support specialized staff in evaluating detainees for granting rewards, including for detecting certain risks,” Marinescu said, cited by News.ro.

Representatives of the ANP specified that the granting of rewards, including leave permissions from prison, is done gradually and is analyzed by a commission formed of the unit’s management and specialists in detention safety and psychosocial assistance.

According to official data, in 2024, 3,857 one-day leave permissions and 654 for periods longer than 24 hours were granted. In 2025, their number increased to 4,259, respectively 1,140. In the case of detainees convicted of murder and attempted murder, 797 such rewards were granted in 2024, and 832 in 2025.

Very few detainees who are granted such permissions fail to present themselves back to the penitentiaries, the authorities said.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: politiaromana.ro)