New allegations shake Romania’s top anticorruption institution

A former anticorruption prosecutor and a former member of the Parliament launched new accusations against the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and its chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi on Sunday evening. DNA and Kovesi rejected the accusations arguing that they were part of a coordinated campaign to tarnish the institution’s image. DNA is the best-known prosecution body in Romania, which has sent to court former prime ministers, ministers, members of the Parliament, mayors, and influential businessmen in recent years. The ruling coalition has accused DNA of being part of a secret system that aims to take control of the political power in Romania, which they called the “parallel state”. Former DNA prosecutor Mihaiela Iorga said that Laura Codruta Kovesi called her and asked her if she couldn’t expedite the investigation of a former minister who was rumored to be a candidate for prime minister. Kovesi allegedly told her that the respective minister would propose a certain judge for the justice minister position, which would have been bad for DNA, Iorga said in a TV show at Antena 3 news station, which is controlled by Romanian businessman Dan Voiculescu, who served a jail sentence for an illegal privatization after a DNA investigation. Iorga herself was dismissed from DNA last year and sent to court last week for favoring the offender and forgery. Laura Codruta Kovesi answered to Iorga’s accusations in a statement for local publication Ziare.com, saying that she had never had such discussions with “defendant” Iorga or any other prosecutor. Mihaiela Iorga also said that the DNA chief prosecutor permanently interfered with the investigation in the Microsoft case and that she allegedly asked for indictments without solid evidence. Iorga was in charge with the investigation in the Microsoft IT licenses case, one of the biggest corruption cases in Romania. While part of the case resulted in convictions for a former communications minister, a former mayor and two businessmen, the DNA dropped the charges against seven other former ministers investigated in this case arguing that the limitation period had expired. Mihaiela Iorga claims this is not the case. Kovesi denied these allegations as well. Former MP Vlad Cosma, the son of former Prahova County Council president Mircea Cosma, also launched serious accusations against the DNA prosecutors. He said that prosecutors from DNA’s office in Ploiesti had asked him in 2015 to plant evidence against former prime minister Victor Ponta and former MP Sebastian Ghita. Cosma presented recordings of his conversations with former DNA prosecutor Mircea Negulescu and the chief of DNA’s office in Ploiesti Lucian Onea in a TV show at