By a six-to-three vote, Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday vindicated the government’s view that the prosecutor is vulnerable to political influence. Since February, President Klaus Iohannis has resisted government demands to fire the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi.
Codruta Covesi has directed the famous DNA agency since 2013 and it was estimated at some point that one in two politicians in Romania were under investigation for corruption, including ministers, prime ministers, members of parliament and mayors.
The Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader called for the DNA prosecutor to be fired on February 22, citing a magisterial council report that he had commissioned.
President Iohannis refused to abide by government demands, remaining unconvinced that Codruta Kovesi has political motives. The government then called on Romania’s Constitutional Court to resolve the constitutional conflict.
Protestors gathered on Wednesday outside the government’s headquarters, protesting the Court’s decision. Judges, prosecutors and legal experts have argued that firing the DNA director could open the door to further interreference with justice, Reuters reports.
