Romania: Ruling on intelligence pact puts trials in doubt
Posted January 16, 2019 10:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s constitutional Court has ruled that secret protocols between prosecutors and the country’s domestic intelligence agency were unconstitutional.
The decision could cause murder and corruption trials in which prosecutors have relied on evidence that was obtained under the agreement to collapse.
The General Prosecutor’s office and the Romanian Intelligence Service signed the protocols in 2009 and 2016.
The ruling is a victory for Romania’s government, which regularly criticizes anti-corruption prosecutors. Government officials have compared the surveillance of graft suspects that resulted from the protocols to the activities of Romania’s communist-era secret police.
Critics claim the government is trying to protect corrupt officials and thwart the anti-corruption fight.
Anti-corruption prosecutors have argued they co-operated with the intelligence service because they lacked the expertise and funds to carry out complex surveillance operations.
The Associated Press
