First hearing in Liviu Dragnea’s trial postponed. ‘No pardon helps me’

Liviu Dragnea’s trial in the case where he faces abuse of office charges next to his former wife and other employees of the Teleorman General Social Assistance Direction and Child, started on Tuesday with an adjournment.

Tuesday’s hearing has been postponed for February 14, on the ground that some of the defendants had no lawyers. Liviu Dragnea’s former wife, Bombonica Prodana did not attend the hearing, asking for the magistrates through her lawyer to be tried in absentia.

„Here we go again on a false testimony, challenged and invalidated by the witnesses’ statements. Romania is the land of denunciations and tapping,” Dragnea said referring to the hearing.

“No pardon is helping me. I haven’t heard from the Gov’t that it wants to decriminalize abuse of office, on one hand. On the other hand, as far as I know, we have a Constitutional Court, which adopted a decision. If we have to take to the streets to be in tune the Constitutional Court’s decisions with the laws, it’s an option, too or maybe the CCR has issued that decision precisely for me. Look carefully on my file and on what was released in the media. It doesn’t help me personally,” Dragnea argued.

After leaving the Supreme Court’s headquarters, the Social Democrat chairman told journalists that he doesn’t know anything on the abuse of office being decriminalized in the Government’s draft on criminal codes’ amendment. The draft amendment says that the abuse of office is investigated only if the prejudice exceeds RON 200,000.

Liviu Dragnea is charged with abuse of office in this case, which is judged at the High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romania’s Supreme Court). Investigators claim that Dragnea made several employees of the Social Assistance Direction in Teleorman to fictitiously hire two people, members of the Teleorman PSD branch.

Liviu Dragnea was indicted by anti-corruption prosecutors on July 15, for instigation to abuse of office and instigation to forgery, for facts committed while he was leader of the Teleorman County Council.