Romanian president has to remove DNA chief from office, CC ruled
Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that the Romanian President Klaus Iohhanis should remove the country’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) chief Laura Codruţa Kövesi from office while denouncing a conflict of interests between his Presidency and the left-wing government of Social-Democrats.
Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had in February called for the removal of Ms. Kövesi while accusing her of acting beyond her responsibilities, not respecting the authority of the parliament and making defamatory comments about Romania in the international press.
The court also mentioned the Law 303/2004 which said that it was the Justice Minister who could revoke a prosecutor in case such request was jutified. “The Court, having regard to the case law so far, established the constitutional conduct to be followed, namely, the issuance by the President of Romania of the decree of dismissal of the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kövesi,” the court said in a statement.
The court decision, backed by six out of nine judges, prompted protests in Bucharest and other Romanian cities later on Wednesday.
Lithuania and Romania blamed for allowing US torture, ECHR says
Judges with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg blamed Lithuania and Romania for allowing the CIA to torture two al-Qaeda terror suspects.
The two, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, were captured by the US after the September 2001 attacks, and they are now at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
ECHR said both countries had violated the European prohibition of torture. The existence of the so-called CIA „black sites” for interrogation – under so-called „secret rendition” – was kept secret for many years after 9/11. According to ECHR, Romania hosted a CIA prison in 2003-2005, where Abd al-Nashiri was victim of „an extremely harsh detention regime”. A similar verdict was issued against Lithuania, concerning Abu Zubaydah. The CIA prison in Lithuania operated between 2005-2006.
Second edition of Romania’s Financial Forum
Romania’s Academy for Economic Studies in the capital Bucharest hosts its second Financial Forum expected to open on Thursday. Talks are expected to focus on issues concerning the country’s banking system, the role of the pension funds, and many others. Paticipants include auditors, supervision and banking officials, investors, and representatives of social security and pension funds institutions.The program will highlight a range of timely domestic and global economic and financial issues, also including prospects for growth, and tax.
World No Tabacco Day
Romania and countries around the world observe the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), a day being observed every year on 31 May. It is intended to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the globe. The day is further intended to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 of which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. The focus of World No Tobacco Day 2018 is „Tobacco and heart disease.” The campaign will increase awareness on the link between tobacco and heart and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including stroke, which combined are the world’s leading causes of death along with feasible actions and measures that key audiences, including governments and the public, can take to reduce the risks to heart health posed by tobacco.
Alexandru Danga, RADOR
