Romanian judge Iosefina Parvu of the Bucharest Tribunal has decided that the hearings of the people who denounced the former Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu would be made secret.

The lawyer defending the former mayor has made this demand. He argued that journalists’ presence in the courtroom could obstruct justice. The judge agreed, which means that the hearings will not be public anymore, reports local Economica.net.

Her decision comes after one the former mayor’s main denouncers Bogdan Popa, who is the former head of the Cemeteries Administration, testified in court, on Monday, that he had received EUR 400,000 from a company’s representatives to grant them public contracts. He also said that he gave Sorin Oprescu some EUR 1 million in several tranches.

The former head of the Cemeteries Administration explained how the bribe was distributed, and that Oprescu was taking almost half of the whole bribe.

editor@romania-insider.com