April 17 (SeeNews) - Romania's president Klaus Iohannis said he has rejected the proposal of justice minister Tudorel Toader to sack the chief of anti-corruption directorate DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi.
"I will not accept the justice minister's proposal to dismiss Ms Kovesi, as his arguments have failed to convince me. As a matter of fact, the motives for dismissal do not even correspond to the applicable legal provisions," Iohannis said in a statement on Monday evening.
Iohannis has the final say on Toader's proposal to dismiss Kovesi from the position of DNA chief prosecutor. According to the law, he needed to wait for the consultative decision of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM). At the end of February, the council rejected Toader's proposal to dismiss Kovesi following her public hearing at CSM.
Toader said earlier in February that he was seeking the dismissal of Kovesi, because she had allegedly damaged the image of the country abroad, and accused her of being too authoritarian. As a result, some 6,000 people held rallies in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to protest against the proposed dismissal of the DNA chief.
EU officials and anti-corruption institutions have praised DNA's activity in general and Kovesi's activity in particular on numerous occasions, stressing that her efforts are crucial for the country's fight against corruption.
In a report published at end-February, Kovesi said that DNA had blocked 198 million euro ($242 million) worth of assets under its precautionary measures in 2017. In 2016, the institution blocked assets worth 667 million euro under precautionary measures.
"2017 was a tough year in the fight against corruption. The very fight against corruption has been questioned," Laura Condruta Kovesi said at the time during the presentation of DNA's 2017 annual report.
On Wednesday, the Council of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) said that Romania needs to refrain from passing further amendments to the criminal law which could undermine its anti-corruption capacities.
"In 2017, a series of reforms were initiated concerning Romania’s justice system, prompting a wave of unprecedented public protests and concerns expressed by nearly half of the country’s judges and prosecutors, as well as by several countries and international institutions, about the consequences of the intended reforms for the independence of judges and prosecutors," a compliance report on Romania published by GRECO reads.
(1 euro=4.6507 lei)