Prosecutors demand 3-year jail sentence for Romanian Senate president

Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) have demanded a 3-year jail sentence for Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu in the case in which he stands trial for lying under oath. A decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) in this case is expected on May 22, local Digi24 ported. DNA sent Tariceanu to court in July 2016, accusing him of having lied under oath during his testimony in a case of illegal restitution involving alleged royalties, local politicians and businessmen, and Israeli billionaires. The case in which Tariceanu was heard as a witness targets the illegal restitution of the Baneasa Royal Farm and a part of the Snagov forest to Prince Paul Al Romaniei, also known as Paul of Romania. The prosecutors said that Calin Popescu Tariceanu claimed in his testimony that he knew nothing about the retrocessions made to Prince Paul of Romania and that he had no knowledge of the involvement of Israeli businessmen Tal Silberstein, Benny Steinmetz, and Moshe Agavi in these illegal restitutions or about the transactions made with the reprocessed properties. The prosecutors found some parts of Tariceanu’s testimony to be false while others were incomplete. Dorin Marian, Calin Popescu Tariceanu’s former chief of staff, was also indicted in this case. The illegal restitution, which started when Tariceanu was prime minister, damaged the state by EUR 145 million, according to the DNA prosecutors. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com