Interior minister Carmen Dan and Bucharest prefect Speranta Cliseru have been heard again in the Senate’s Defence Committee on the Diaspora rally file on Tuesday. While the Bucharest prefect said she doesn’t confirm the two hours announced by two gendarmerie heads as the hours when the intervention order had been issued, Interior minister argued the hours are not relevant and that the intervention in force was legal. Moreover, minister Carmen Dan said President Iohannis has made a prejudgement that the Gendarmerie has acted violently.
„There is much talk focused on the hours, I thing they are not relevant. The intervention in force has been legally covered, from the perspective of article 19, line 1 and line 2”, the minister stated.
Carmen Dan denied there had been any pressures on the Bucharest prefect, as the General Prosecutor’s Office claimed.
„There have been stances taken in the public space. I responsibly say that there have been no pressures from the Interior Ministry on the prefect. The role of the prefect is simple, to give the go-ahead for the intervention in force,” Dan said, also denying she has ordered the classification of documents.
The minister also opined that President Iohannis made a prejudgement when saying the Gendamerie has acted violently during the Diaspora rally.
„It’s not normal that the chiefs of the Gendarmerie should find out from the media that they are prosecuted. The truth will come out,” the minister argued.
As for the Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea’s statements on this topic, Dan replied: „I don’t want to comment on the general mayor’s allegations, I usually don’t attack my colleagues on TV, if someone makes accusations, he/she should provide evidence”.
On the other side, Bucharest Prefect Speranta Cliseru told the senators in the Defence Committee she had not signed any intervention order, she just Okayed an already signed document. At the same time, she didn’t confirm the two hours claimed by the gendarmes. Cliseru denied to say the precise hour when the intervention took place due to the Prosecutor’s Office investigation.
„I didn’t sign any order, I gave my consent on an already signed order. The coordinator of the action was Laurentiu Cazan,” Cliseru said. Laurentiu Cazan claimed shortly after the protest that the intervention order had bee given at 8 p.m. on August 10. The Gendarmerie spokesperson Marius Militaru mentioned a different hour however, namely 23:00hr.
Hearings in the Senate’s Defence Committee ended with an ad-hoc conclusion, namely that updating the La 60/1991 on organizing public gatherings is needed.
The PSD-ALDE members of the committee and Interior minister Carmen Dan agreed that the law must be amended, arguing so that any mission of the state institutions should not be ever questioned.