Politicians take stand in the alleged Caracal murder case. President Iohannis asks for CSAT inquiry, resignations

President Klaus Iohannis has reacted in the case of the alleged murder in Caracal, where a 57yo man is suspected of killing two teen girls. Iohannis will ask within the Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) sitting on Tuesday for an investigation on the way authorities have acted in this case.

“Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, is deeply sorry for the tragedy in Caracal and his is outraged that, due to some malfunctions, the responsible authorities did not manage to save a teen girl who lost her life in dramatic circumstances, which has to be clarified as a matter of urgency.

Romania’s President will ask within the CSAT sitting on July 30 a full investigation on the manner each responsible institution has acted in this case.

If there are proves that wrong or delayed actions have been taken, the ones to blame will be severely sanctioned.

At the same time, all problems that will be identified must be quickly solved for the safety of the citizen must by guaranteed by the state institutions”, reads a press release by the Presidential Administration on Friday.

Later on Friday evening, President Klaus Iohannis had phone conversations with the Interior minister Nicolae Moga and with STS head, Ionel Sorinel Vasilca, asking them that investigations related to the Caracal case to be conducted expeditiously.

The Romanian head of state also underlined that resignations of all that had poorly managed this case are mandatory.

“To guarantee the safety of the Romanians and to prevent similar situations, resignations are not nearly enough. As long as corruption, incompetence will be encouraged by some political decision makers, the entire society will suffer,” Iohannis said.

The new Interior minister Nicolae Moga has also reacted, saying “it is a shattering case”. “I hope it will be solved as soon as possible. The investigation is not concluded yet and I don’t want to give verdicts until then,” the minister said.

In his turn, Prosecutor General Bogdan Licu has ordered an investigation at the Prosecutor’s Office upon the Caracal Court to probe into the manner the local prosecutors have proceeded with the investigation in this case.

Judicial sources told mass media that policemen in Caracal knew the location where the suspect Gheorghe Dinca was since Thursday night, but they preferred to wait for a search warrant on Friday morning than going on the scene right away to catch the suspect red-handed, as the law allows.

STS, also under fire

PM Viorica Dăncilăhas accused STS that it “had responded irresponsibly” to all the questions related to the young girl killed in Caracal. The PM urged STS director clarification in this case as soon as possible, arguing it is inadmissible the services provides no accurate tracking.

“We’ll analyse the causes of this tragedy and we’ll take all necessary actions, quickly and firmly. I will personally handle all those who don’t belong in the system anymore, so that such tragedies don’t happen anymore. The head of the Romanian Police has been dismissed, I asked for the resignation of Olt prefect and of the Olt County Police. From the top level up to the last man responsible, the guilty must pay,” the premier said in Facebook post.

Norica Nicolae (ALDE), has accused the Special Telecommunication Service (STS) of being “moral accomplice to murder” in the missing girl case and asked for the resignation of the STS head.

“This murder could have been prevented by the state institutions, which are very well paid otherwise, and I refer here to STS. It’s not possible that the victim calls 112 three times and this system doesn’t work for hours. Probably the citizen does not matter for, otherwise I cannot explain why the tracking of the location had been practically impossible for the STS system“, said Nicolai.

“STS leadership must file the honourable resignation for moral complicity to murder! And if this doesn’t happen, the Government will have to proceed on the dismissal as a matter of urgency”, ALDE leader added.

Deputy president of the Chamber of Deputies, Florin Iordache also said that the Government must take immediate actions in this case and the Parliament should set up an inquiry committee.

Iordache also called on STS to provide explanations, arguing it is the second time the service is giving erroneous information on locating victims, referring to the Apuseni air crash in 2014, when pilot Adrian Iovan and med student Aura Ion lost their lives after their plane crashed mountains and rescue teams arrived on the scene several days later.

In his turn, Defence minister asked that STS should be taken over by the Defence Ministry, arguing “it is the only solution for this service to get reformed and render the credibility of this essential structure for the national security system“.

On the other hand, STS has denied the Police’s accusations, saying the policemen had information of primary tracking in every of the three calls. STS also said it has no authority to identify the location of the mobile or the cell of the mobile operator.

STS spokesperson, Mariana Pop explained that three calls in this case had been transferred tot the Police and that tracking had been accurate. She argued that primary tracking information within 112 service are regulated by ANCOM and need no additional processing by STS.