Some 500 people have gathered outside the country’s top court to demand the ouster of the High Court chief judge and calling for reforms to the justice system.
Civic organizations who organized the Friday evening protest accuse Lia Savonea, head of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, of weakening the fight against corruption, transforming the top magistrates body into a political instrument, ignoring the opinions of magistrates and of delivering dubious verdicts that favor defendants.
Protesters referred to several controversial rulings such as her downgrading the sentence of the fugitive son of a football celebrity who killed a pedestrian under the influence of drugs from murder to manslaughter, acquitting the former Health Minister Nicolae Bănicioiu in a massive bribery case, and for ruling for the early release of the former Finance Minister Sebastian Vlădescu and the former Eximbank chairman Ionuţ Costea, both sentenced on corruption charges.
Protesters yelled: “Corruption kills”, “Justice, not prescription”, and , “We saved you and you betrayed us”, “Where there is law, you won’t find Savonea” as well as: “We want independent not obedient magistrates”. They called on President Nicusor Dan to participate in the meetings of the Superior Council of Magistrates.
“Romania can no longer accept a Supreme Court headed by a person who, for years, has been associated with controversies, pressures, blockages and decisions that have weakened public trust in Justice,” organizers said.
“The appointment of Lia Savonea as head of the High Court is not a simple “promotion”, but the symbol of the capture of Justice by a small but extremely influential group, connected to political interests and to the area of high-ranking corruption. We don’t take to the streets for no reason at all.
The protest was headlined: “What is Lia doing with Romanian Justice? We want the the defender of the corrupt to resign.”
In a message on Facebook, they explained the reasons for their demands.
- She supported legislative changes that weakened the fight against corruption
“Savonea promoted and defended exactly those changes in the justice laws about which the European Commission, GRECO, the Venice Commission and the independent magistrates said the same thing: they favor defendants with political connections and reduce the efficiency of the DNA. These changes have created: loopholes for the rapid prescription, loopholes for procrastinating processes, advantages for politicians with heavy files. A rule of law is not built like this,” the civic organizations say.
- She turned the Supreme Magistrates Council into a political instrument
“Instead of defending the independence of magistrates, the SMC was perceived as aligned with the PSD, during the period when Savonea dominated the institution. She was accused of: blocking critical voices; pushing decisions in a political direction; marginalization of the reformists. The SCM is not a party council. It is the first line of defense of the independence of justice,” the organizers also said.
- She intimidated and isolated independent magistrates
“Judges and prosecutors have publicly described an atmosphere of pressure, phone calls, attacks in hearings, marginalization. The reports belong to the Judges’ Forum, the Justice Initiative, the investigative press. A system in which independent magistrates are put to the wall is NOT democracy,” the organizations organizing the protest also said.
- She led the SCM abusively
“During her mandate, the SCM became a paralyzed, conflictual, dysfunctional institution:
- blocked meetings;
- arbitrarily modified agendas;
- refusal to put some notifications on the agenda;
- decisions passed without debate,” the message also reads.
- She promoted controversial magistrates
“The dramatic insistence for the appointment of Adina Florea to the Special Section, despite the massive opposition in the system and the European warnings, clearly showed the intention: control over those who investigate corruption. The SIIJ was considered an “instrument of pressure” on magistrates. Savonea defended it at all costs,” the organizers’ message also reads.
- She ignored the will of the magistrates
“During the 2018-2019 protests, more than 90 courts and prosecutors’ offices issued negative opinions on the legislative changes. Savonea voted against and treated the protests as something “politically manipulated”. You cannot claim legitimacy when you turn your back on your own professional body,” the organizations say.
- Serious suspicions related to her personal wealth
- Highly contested judicial decisions
“Among the cases that shocked public opinion: the retrial of the Mario Iorgulescu case, sentenced to 13 years in prison. An 8-month suspended sentence in a case of rape of a 13-year-old minor, motivated by the victim’s consent. The final acquittal of the former Minister of Health, Nicolae Bănicioiu, accused of bribery and influence peddling. The release of the former Minister of Finance, Sebastian Vlădescu and the former president of Eximbank, Ionut Costea, convicted of great corruption. Favoring the convicted criminal Dan Voiculescu in the ICA case of great corruption by attacking the judge who sentenced him to 10 years in prison – Camelia Bogdan. Who’s next? And at what cost to us?, the organizers of the protest said.
- Influencing panels in sensitive cases
- The way she was appointed was contested – “NGOs complain that the appointment procedure was started outside the legal deadline and with a lack of transparency. Declic challenged Lia Savonea’s appointment in court because it was made 3 months earlier than the legal deadline. This is not the standard of a European democracy”
- She compromised the Image of Justice
The participants in the protest announce that the next action will take place outside the headquarters of the Superior Council of Magistrates.
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