RO Foreign Affairs Minister rejects involvement in Dragnea vs. Romania case judged by ECHR

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu said on July 4 that he did not give a mandate to Viorel Mocanu, the government’s agent at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), who changed the rhetoric in favor of former Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea in a case judged by ECHR, Hotnews.ro reported.

Melescanu claimed he is not at all involved in the case, as Romania has some 9,000 cases currently judged by ECHR and he could not possibly handle each of them.

Dragnea appealed the first sentence received in Romania, final but suspended, related to his involvement in the voting at the referendum against President Traian Basescu in 2012. In the meantime, Dragnea was given a 42-month final sentence that he serves.

Mocanu was appointed in February 2019 by Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă as the new government agent. He replaced former agent Catrinel Brumar, who submitted to the ECHR views in favor of the Romanian state. Instead, after his appointment, Mocanu sent the ECHR the pleadings that Dragnea's lawyer had used and claimed to be a recognition of the Romanian state's culpability towards Dragnea.

(Photo: Ministerul Afacerilor Externe Facebook Page)