Romanian Parliament may pardon bribery and influence peddling, stirs protests

The Senate’s Legal Committee adopted yesterday several amendments that grant pardon to detainees sentenced for bribery and influence peddling if they pay the damages they had caused.

Former president Traian Basescu, who is now a senator, Social-Democrat MP Serban Nicolae and Social-Democrat senator Liviu Brailoiu proposed the amendments to the pardon law.

The Government doesn’t support these amendments, but it supports the pardon law in the form proposed by the Justice Ministry, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu wrote yesterday on Facebook.

“The amendments adopted today by the Senate’s Legal Committee on pardoning corruption deeds don’t have the Executive’s support,” Grindeanu wrote.

The senators of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Union to Save Bucharest (USR) said that they oppose these amendments and voted against them. However, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) senators have the majority in the Senate’s Legal Committee and the amendments passed.

Some 1,000 people protested against the amendments in the Victoriei Square yesterday evening. The protest, which was summoned on the Facebook page “Coruptia Ucide” (Corruption Kills), lasted for about four hours.

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