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| THE REPORT OF THE ANTICORRUPTION DIRECTORATE 27/02/2008 |
| (2008-02-27) |
| Last updated: 2008-02-28 19:46 EET |
Seen as ogres by politicians and crusaders on white horses by the ordinary man, the anticorruption prosecutors in Romania on Tuesday made public their report for 2007, a report which only managed to put the former’s minds at ease and disappoint the latter. Ignoring statistics, the media prefer to dwell on the announcement of the Anticorruption Directorate head, Daniel Morar to close the so-called Fleet File, following a financial inquiry which concluded that no loss was reported.
80 people, from former transport ministers from low ranking public servants, have been cleared when the case was closed. The investigation was supposed to shed light on the circumstances in which the country’s commercial navy fleet lost all its biggest ships between 1991 and 2000, through a dubious association between the Petromin Company in Constanta and a group of private companies from Norway.
Although frequently accused by his political adversaries of turning the National Anticorruption Directorate into his own political instrument, president Traian Basescu, himself a protagonist in the Fleet File, still awaits the final decision concerning his involvement. A transport minister between 1996 and 2000, Basescu benefits today from immunity, so he will officially be announced of his innocence in the case when his term expires.
Moving on to a different subject, the head of the Anticorruption Directorate said he was very disillusioned: “the dignitaries enjoy a privileged treatment in courts, and this kind of mild punishment will not frighten anybody of a corruption sentence”, said Morar. He pointed out that only a quarter of the 109 convicted criminals in 2007 served time in prison. The other 81 got a suspended sentence. Punishments are not severe and encourage corruption, Morar went on to say.
He denounces both the judges’ lenience for high profile criminals and a toxic solidarity between courts and the magistrates who are on trial themselves. In such cases, the courts pass a minimum sentence. Also, three judges convicted last year for acts of corruption, of which two got a suspended sentence, were granted extenuating circumstances as first offenders. “If they had had a criminal record, they wouldn’t have been in office in the first place”, argued Morar, concluding that as far as corruption trials are concerned, the state’s institutions are simply covering for each other.
(Bogdan Matei)
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