She was unpopular with the former Social Democrat-led government and their allies, but former chief anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi is appreciated in Europe for her efforts to tackle graft at the highest levels of the Romanian state.
Kovesi, who was recently appointed Chief EU Public Prosecutor, has been awarded the “Woman in Power” prize at the fourth annual edition of the Women of Europe Awards in Brussels.
She earned the prize “for showing extraordinary political leadership in Europe through her notable work against high-level corruption in Romania.”
Kovesi said this week she considered the award “as a recognition of my efforts and as an encouragement to not give up on my work.”
She said the award belonged to “all of the people that have supported me in the fight against corruption, and in upholding the rule of law and European values.”
“To be powerful means to gain the trust of the people, and importantly, to succeed in keeping it. In my line of work, you can do so only by working professionally…. and by respecting the law at all times,” Kovesi said after receiving the award.
“I would especially like to thank all my supporters over the years. Moving forward, we need to work to promote equality, justice and the rule of law, as the European Movement has done for the last 70 years,” she added.
The Women of Europe Awards are handed out yearly to honor and celebrate women striving to advance the European project in their professional or private capacity.
Bulgarian human rights lawyer Milena Kadieva won the Woman in Action award this year.
Kovesi was appointed chief prosecutor in October, a development which came after the previous government tried to block her appointment.
The Social Democrats maneuvered her dismissal in July 2018 when then-Justice Minister Tudorel Toader published a 20-point report accusing her of overstepping her authority and of pursuing cases with high-level media impact.
But she earned praise from the EU, the U.S. State Department, President Klaus Iohannis and thousands of ordinary Romanians for her tough approach to high-level graft. Kovesi became Romania’s first-ever female prosecutor-general in 2006 at age 33 and served two terms in office. But she made her name she became chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in 2013.
Under her mandate, the office successfully prosecuted 68 high-level officials, including 14 ministers, 39 deputies, 14 senators, and one European Parliament lawmaker. Among those was a sitting prime minister, ex-Premier Victor Ponta, who was eventually acquitted, and a former prime minister.
Under Kovesi’s supervision, some 1,000 people were sent to trial and about 900 people were convicted by courts every year.
But she was rebuked by the Social Democrats who began to dismantle anti-graft legislation in 2017 after they won elections. The move led to the biggest street protests since the collapse of communism.
În legătură cu acest personaj controversat Laura Codruța Kovesi ,care a făcut numeroase abuzuri si încălcări ale legilor incalcari ale dreptului si libertatile omului si nu a pățit nimic ,chiar din contra este avansată in functia de procuror european! Cata democratie si corectitudine este in UE, PE ?
De ce ne miram ca scade încrederea în UE ,PE ,CE si in justitie?