Justice Minister Tudor Chiuariu asked the president to approve his request to revoke prosecutor Doru Tulus from the anticorruption department, under presumed allegations of breaking judicial procedures. “I think Chiuariu is the one who should leave,” President Traian Basescu said today after examining the minister’s document.
On October 18, six of the seven members of the country’s Magistrates’ Council denied the justice minister’s request to revoke Tulus. Chiuariu asked for the prosecutor’s revocation three times in past six months in what was seen as an attempt to endanger the freedom of the judiciary in the country.
“I was expecting a fair decision,” Tulus said two weeks ago, adding he felt people tried to get rid of him no matter the stakes. However, he refused to utter the reason behind the attempt to revoke him, saying he lacks sufficient proofs to do so.
Romania’s judiciary is still under the European Union’s magnifying glass.The country joined the bloc at the beginning of the year with the promise to continue justice reforms and stamp out high-level corruption.
Tulus is in charge of high-level corruption cases that include probes into the activities of several politicians, such as Hungarian Democrat leader Marko Bela, Conservative chairman Dan Voiculescu and others. Chiuariu’s request spawned protests that such a move would endanger Romania’s pledge to stamp out graft in light of the country’s EU accession.
The country’s anticorruption department (DNA) has become a political tool, Chiuariu said, adding sometimes prosecutors stop investigations in certain files regarding some politicians. Head of DNA Daniel Morar rejected accusations that his institution is involved in political manipulation. Morar said prosecutors are only doing their jobs by asking for the approval of President Traian Basescu to start penal investigations.
Morar formerly accused Chiuariu of politically interfering with DNA’s activity. Morar noted that Chiuariu previously asked him not to complete the investigation in some cases during the election campaign. Chiuariu denied the allegations, dismissing them as lies.

Source: NewsIn