International press reports on Romanian political leader's conviction

Foreign press outlets wrote on Monday about the 3.5-year prison conviction received by Romanian political leader Liviu Dragnea, the president of the governing PSD party and the Chamber of Deputies in the Parliament.

Dragnea was convicted for instigating abuse in office in a case where two employees were falsely hired at the Child Protection Services Agency in the county, while actually working for the local PSD organisation while collecting their salaries from the Agency. At the time, Liviu Dragnea was the president of PSD Teleorman.

The Associated Press, cited by several US newspapers including the Washington Post, wrote that Dragnea was “already blocked from being prime minister because of a 2016 conviction for vote-rigging, and is expected to be imprisoned within 24 hours.”

Romanian political leader conviction as seen in international press

Euronews wrote that “Romania is ranked one of the most corrupt members of the EU by Transparency International. The country has been rocked over the last two years by protests at what campaigners claim are politicians’ attempts to decriminalise some corruption offences and weaken the judiciary.”

AFP, cited by French outlet Le Figaro, reported that Dragnea was frequently the target of critics who accused him of “seeking to relax the criminal code in order to escape the various procedures against him” and that his party also suffered a defeat at the European elections on Sunday.

“Since coming to power in late 2016, the Social Democrats have steadily chipped away at the independence of the judiciary, raising sharp criticism from the European Union and triggering Romania’s largest street protests in decades,” Reuters reported.

A five-judge panel at the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) has convicted PSD and Chamber of Deputies chamber president Liviu Dragnea to 3 and half years in prison for inciting abuse in office in the DGASPC Teleorman case, where two employees were falsely hired at the Child Protection Services Agency in the county, while actually working for the local PSD organisation while collecting their salaries from the Agency. At the time, Liviu Dragnea was the president of PSD Teleorman.