Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar has retorted to accusations that he would have denied the release on parole of a political dissident imprisoned during the communist regime, saying he has never been a collaborator or agent of the Securitate political police and that all this discrediting campaign is related to his candidature for a second term as PG.
“Several media institutions have attributed to me deeds that I did not commit and labelled me in order to discredit me as person, as a magistrate. It is the first time in my life that such a thing is happening to me. I am not officer, NCO or collaborator of Securitate, or of any intelligence service,” he stated, adding that he is not nervous if the CNSAS archive is being checked.
“The episode that some media institutions are referring to has been presented in a tendentious manner, without considering my explanations. The attributions of this committee was not to release prisoners. This was the exclusive duty of the court of law. The law had the same provisions for all categories of prisoners,” Lazar said, adding that the committee that he was part of only checked if the technical criteria were met.
Lazar further explained that he had no management position during the communist regime. “The Revolution (of December 1989) caught me as a criminal prosecutor in charge with violent crimes (…) These attacks against me are determined by me filing the candidature for the second term as prosecutor general“, Lazar argued.
The PG pointed out that after the Revolution, the generation of prosecutors he was also part of had the chance to enjoy a “beneficial change” and to take fast steps to professionalisation.
“This year we are marking 30 years since the fall of the communism and I think it is time for an explicit delimitation. I want to extent institutional apologies for the questionable practices before 1989. Personally, I voice my regret for the dramas lived by the anti-communist fighters,” he concluded.