Media investigation revealing "captured judiciary" prompts street protests in Romania

A two-hour documentary published by the investigative platform Recorder on December 9, revealing how a structure coordinated and controlled through alleged benefits and penalties by High Court president Lia Savonea captured the entire judicial system over the past year, developing institutional mechanisms to legally free high-profile politicians and businessmen, some of them already with a final sentence, prompted protests in Romania. The video investigation raised roughly 2 million views on YouTube in just over a day.

Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday evening, December 10, in front of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) headquarters in Bucharest, in the context of the Recorder investigation into the state of the judiciary in Romania.