Laura Codruta Kovesi , under judiciary control and interdiction to leave country

Friday, March 29, 2019 Share

Laura Codruta Kovesi was placed under judiciary control by prosecutors of the Section investigating magistrates, sources close to the investigation told Mediafax. The former National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) head cannot leave the country. She was interrogated for six and a half hours at the Section investigating magistrates. When leaving she announced that the case prosecutor had forbidden her to talk to the press about what had happened at the hearing and about the case for which she had been summoned. “I am not allowed to say anything, it is a way of shutting me up,” Kovesi said.

According to sources, Kovesi was told she was accused in the case.

One of the interdictions is about leaving the country, when Kovesi is participating in the procedures appointing the chief European prosecutor, which means she must be present in Brussels.

The former DNA chief arrived at the Section investigating magistrates at 1.00 p.m. When she left she said her presence at the section was part of the harassment campaign she got used to.

She announced she could not talk to the press about had happened at the hearing and about the case for which she had been summoned. “I am not allowed to say anything about what happened here, today or about this case. I was forbidden by the case prosecutor to talk to the press about the file. It is a way of shutting me up, of harassing all those from the judiciary system who did their job.”

Kovesi also said they were trying to reduce her to silence because “certain people's despair” for the possibility of her becoming European chief prosecutor had reached high levels.

Regarding amendments to the Criminal Codes she said that they will seriously affect the possibilities of investigating corruption, underlining that these changes will "help some people to escape from the consequences of criminal liability."



"These are changes that will seriously affect the possibilities of investigating corruption. I believe that everything that has been said, including by CSM [the Superior Council of Magistrates, ed.n.] and my DNA colleagues, other prosecutors and judges in the judiciary, is grounded and we can be concerned that such legislative changes will be adopted. They will not be adopted to fight crime effectively, but they will be adopted to help some people escape from the consequences of criminal liability," Kovesi said.



Referring to public discussions about prosecutors' abuse, Kovesi said the DNA had sued more than 70 magistrates for abuse of office.



"About this topic of abuse, which has been in the public space for some time, these abuses must be ascertained by the courts or by a judge I do not know at this moment if there are final decisions of the courts. In my term as DNA head there were over 70 magistrates who were sued, including for abuse of office and for what is known in the public space as abuses. I was the first to have intervened when there were such situations and I notified the CSM or the Judicial Inspection," Kovesi said.

The statement was made at the headquarters of the Justice Crimes Investigation Section, where Kovesi was heard for 6 hours.

She went to the Section investigating magistrates alone, without being accompanied by a lawyer, preferring to defend herself.





