Romaniaโs corrupt judicial system, which has supposedly been reformed and brought in line with European standards more than three decades after the fall of Nicolae Ceausescuโs dictatorship, has in recent years blantantly targeted some of the countryโs most successful post-Communistย businessmen.
One of the more prominent individuals on the judiciaryโs list of โundesireablesโ is Romaniaโs most successful real estate investors, Gabriel Popoviciu.
On June 18, Londonโs High Court ruled that it would throw out an extradition request filed by Bucharest after it found credible evidence to show that the Romanian trial judge who convicted and sentenced Popoviciu in 2017 on fraud charges had assisted organized crime figures with their legal matters and had solicited bribes for issues related to Popoviciuโs case.
According to the Courtโs ruling, its decision to quash the extradition request โ which would have seen him sent from the UK back to Romania โ was influenced by clear evidence that the trial judgeโs conduct outside the court and his failure to disclose his corrupt relationship with underworld elements, as well as the Romanian authoritiesโ failure properly to investigate the matter, were key indicators that Popoviciu had not recieved a fair trial.
The Court concluded that Popoviciu had โsuffered a complete denialโ of his fair trial rights as protected by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that his extradition would consequently represent a โflagrant denialโ of his indivdual rights as protected by Article 5 of the European Convention.
Popoviciu was amongst the first to bring Western brands to Romania in the aftermath of Ceausescuโs ouster and the fall of Communism, including the KFC and IKEA franchises. He was part of a small number of individuals who capitalized on the liberation of markets to reinvigorate the ailing national post-command economy.
In 2002, he helped to develop the Baneasa Project, Eastern Europeโs then-largest real-estate development. Dubbed the โjewel in the crownโ of the modern Romanian commercial sector, Baneasa attracts 40 million visitors per year and contributes around โฌ230 million to the national economy each year โ around 1% of Romaniaโs GDP. This success, however, turned Popoviciu into a target of Romaniaโs notoriously corrupt judicial system.
Prior to his conviction, and subsequent 7 year jail sentence, Popoviciu had voluntarily handed himself in to Londonโs police upon learning thata European Arrest Warrant (EAW) had been issued against him by the Romanian government following the recommendation of Romaniaโs National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA).
Urged on by the European institutions in Brussels, the DNA โ which was headed at the time by currentย European Chief Prosecutorย Laura Kovesi โ carried out more arrests, achieved more asset freezes and more convictions than any of its counterpart agencies across the EU. These actions have, over the years, been lauded by European Union crusaders in Brussels as demonstrative examples of Romaniaโs โsuccessfulโ anti-corruption drive. Outside of the Brussels bubble echochamber, the facts on the ground painted a far different picture.
While serving as Romaniaโs youngest-ever Chief Prosecutor, Kovesiโs tenure was marked by significant concerns emerged about the DNAโs actions, which allegedly involved apparent abuses of power and politically motivated convictions, as well as acts of of intimidation, coercion, and an apparent collusion with the Romanian Intelligence Service โ methods that would have been all-to-familiar to Ceausescuโs feared Securitate.
Four years ago, New Europeย wroteย that the importance of the fight against corruption in Romania cannot be underestimated. It is also of equal importance that those who are leading the fight must be closely scrutinized, as the extensive reach of the DNAโs power and influence means that criticism will rarely come from within the country. As a result, the duty for keeping a watchful eye on Romaniaโs anti-corruption crusade rests largely upon those EU individuals and groups who continue to heap praise on a process that has obviously overstepped its bounds.