Gendarmerie notifies DIICOT over coup d’etat charges in the Diaspora rally case

The Romanian Gendarmerie has filed a criminal complaint at the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in the case of the Diaspora protest of August 10. The complaint targets crimes against the constitutional order, more precisely the Gendarmerie accuses a coup d’etat attempt.

The complaint has been registered on Tuesday.

The Gendarmerie invokes article 397 in the Criminal Code which refers to „an armed action undertaken with the aim of changing the constitutional order or of preventing the exercise of the state power if it jeopardize the national security”. The article stipulates sentences from 10 to 20 years in prison in this case.

More precisely, the Gendarmerie invokes a coup d’etat attempt, an accusation first launched by PSD chairman Liviu Dragnea during the past weekend.

Up to this moment, no criminal prosecution on this deed has been started.

Interior minister Carmen Dan has announced in Parliament on Tuesday, while addressing the plenary sitting convened for the simple motion filed by the Opposition against her, that she had filed „an action” at DIICOT through which she is revealing the events during the Diaspora protest. On Wednesday, the plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies has rejected the simple motion against minister Dan. 99 deputies voted for the motion, 149 against it and three MPs have abstained from voting.

The Romanian Gendarmerie is currently led by Ionut Catalin Sindile, nominated by the Interior minister as interim, after the mandate of the former head Sebastian Cucos had expired.

PSD chairman Liviu Dragnea claimed on TV on Sunday evening that the rally on August 10 had been funded from abroad.

The PSD chairman argued that there is the possibility that next week evidence will be made public about the rally in Victoriei Square, proving that it was funded from abroad.

“There are enough elements regarding a coup d’etat. That was a funded protest, it seems from abroad as well. I am absolutely convinced that next week information about the funding will surface, that it was paramilitary organized, that they wanted to take over the Government offices and constantly provoked the gendarmes,” Dragnea told Antena 3 TV.

He added that the state institutions did nothing wrong on August 10.