Bucharest Mayor to be questioned by military prosecutors on Tuesday regarding August 10 protest violence

Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea will be questioned by military prosecutors at the General Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday regarding the violent clash between protesters and gendarmes during the August 10 protest in Victoriei Square, according to Agerpres.

Gabriela Firea asked for the resignation of Internal Affairs minister Carmen Dan during a meeting of PSD leadership over the weekend, claiming that she was responsible for the violence that occurred during the protest as a result of her bad management of law enforcement’s actions.

“I reproached minister Carmen Dan for the fact that, at first, she said publicly that she was on holiday and didn’t care; then, when the press found out that she was at the ministry building all night, she said that she was actually back from holiday, but she didn’t take responsibility for the intervention as Internal Affairs minister. Instead of saying that the protest was illegal, that the intervention happened according to the law, that the Gendarmerie took gradual measures, that they were justified, she threw all the blame on the Bucharest Prefect – my former colleague,” Firea said.

Firea also said that European figures have expressed concern about the situation, relayed by European Commissioner Corina Cretu.

“I spoke to European Commissioner Corina Cretu yesterday, who told me about a discussion she had with her colleagues and with EC president Juncker, where they expressed their worry about the political situation in Romania, especially regarding what happened on August 10, which was not appreciated by the other European countries because although they agree that democratic state institutions must be defended, they also think that the gendarmes’ actions were justified up to a certain point and they did not like the fact that non-violent protesters had to deal with the teargas used in Victoriei Square,” she stated.