,,Italy is a little further away. Maybe the Italian Justice Minister hears me! We are extremely disappointed with such an outcome! ” said a furious Mr. Predoiu in an ad hoc press conference.
CONTEXT
A few days ago, Dragos Savulescu, a Romanian actor and a businessman made a statement on his social media account to announce that his EAW issued by the Romanian authorities was rejected by the Napoli Court of Appeal :
,, I am not a murderer, I am a man who fights for justice and for my own life, taking into consideration that a great injustice has been done to me! And I’m a winner.
III. The most important thing I am sending you now for the first time !! To the despair of the Securitate, I officially announce you that my extradition to Romania was rejected a month and a half ago, and the sentence became an Italian sentence and is to be executed in Italy, according to Italian law. Also under Italian law, the sentence was significantly reduced and became an alternative to imprisonment. Most commonly known in Romanian – „with suspension”. The decision is final.
IV. The Ministry of Justice knows this very well, because it was officially communicated to him a few weeks ago. But obviously it doesn’t say anything! Why?? Simple – this Ministry of „Justice” does not want people fleeing „justice” from Romania to know about my success here and to know that they can find justice abroad, away from the unjust and criminal „justice” system that governs „justice” in Romania! The only news they want to make public is that they catch, bring back to the country and imprison someone, to cause FEAR. They don’t want to make the news of their own failure known, as in my case !!
V. IN CONCLUSION, THERE IS NO MORE EXTRADITION AND I AM NO FUGITIVE! THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANTY HAS BEEN CANCELED !!!” Mr Savulescu was accused of corruption (illegal retrocessions).
Catalin Predoiu – Minister of Justice and his predecessor – Ana Birchall credit foto : Inquamphotos.com
Mr Catalin Predoiu is the second Minister to admit ,, personal involvement” in a high profile extradition after Ana Birchall, Predoiu’s predecessor, stated on 20 October 2020 (see here) that she ,,is pleased of the outcome of her personal involvement who made possible the Extradition of Alexander Adamescu “. Alexander Adamescu is the son of Dan Adamescu, a prominent business and media figure who died while serving a custody in Romania. His last words were:,,I’m being killed! Don’t let this happen to my son!” (see here Dan Adamescu Statement 1 and Dan Adamescu Statement 2 from 2016). Five months before Dan Adamescu passed away, Romanian prosecutors revived the same accusations for which he was convicted against his son.
Briefing on Extraditions
In a today’s conference, the Romanian Minister of Justice briefed the media about extraditions pending to Romania.
Obviously, Mr Predoiu had only referred to those cases that involved media and prominent business figures – more or less those who defied their witch hunt and politically tainted cases. He lost no word about the numerous human traffickers, drug dealers or other perpetrators of violent crimes who stand to be extradited to Romania.
The same Mr Predoiu failed to make any reference to the recent judgment of the Antananarivo Court (see here), in the capital of Madagascar, which on 9 October 2020 ruled that Radu Ștefan Mazăre (former Mayor of Constanta county) was illegally extradited from Madagascar to Romania. The Antananarivo Court asked Romania to immediately send back the former mayor of Constanța. Mr.Stefan Mazare was accused of corruption (receiving bribery and illegal retrocessions).
Mr Predoiu also made no remarks about the Higher Court in Belgrade, which on 06.07.2018 presided by THREE HIGH COURT JUDGES, in the matter of extradition of defendant GHITA SEBASTIAN AURELIAN, which REJECTED the request for extradition made by the Ministry of justice of Romania in April 2017. Mr Sebastian Ghita was accused of corruption (Bribery).
Instead, Mr Predoiu made outrageous comments on the judiciary and accused Mr Adamescu’s defence of trickery and delaying his surrender to Romania, anticipating without any grounds that such actions will be rejected.
He stated:,, As for the citizen Alexander Bogdan Adamescu, located in Great Britain, the British court ordered the surrender, after the appeal made by the person, was rejected. Adamescu addressed a permission for a question to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and until this question is resolved on a legal interpretation he cannot be handed over for extradition. According to the information we have, this procedure is going to be carried out faster, and his chances are quite small, according to the lawyers from Great Britain with whom we consulted. So it is rather a delay, from our perspective, one that does not seem to have much of a chance.”
According to the British Extradition Act, “following the dismissal of an extradition appeal a 14 day period follows in which an application to certify a point of law of general public importance can be made to the High Court. If no such application is made, or of it is refused, extradition to a Part 1 country must take place within the 10 days that follow the end of the 14-day period or upon refusal of the High Court to certify a point of law. “
So not only is Alexander Adamescu’s defence entitled to ask for a certification of a point of law but the High Court has recently certified a point of law on Article 3 – prison conditions for an Hungarian citizen. The Supreme Court is to decide whether breaches of assurances in other EU member countries by the requesting state have to be taken into account in England.
The Napoli Court of Appeal judgement could be damaging for the ambitions of Mr Predoiu as it is new case law of systemic breaches acknowledged by EU Member States against Romania.
Human Rights violators
Top twenty human rights violators according to ECtHR judgments:
1. Turkey (3645)
2. Russian Federation (2699)
3. Italy (2410)
4. Romania(1496)
5. Ukraine (1413)
6. Poland (1178)
7. France (1032)
8. Greece (1022)
9. Bulgaria (701)
10. United Kingdom (552)
11. Hungary(550)
12. Republic of Moldova (441)
13. Croatia (412)
14. Austria (397)
15. Portugal(354)
16. Germany (348)
17. Belgia (260)
18. Czech Republic (234)
19. Serbia (216)
20. Lithuania (213)
Source: Council of Europe, Violations by Article and by State 1959-2019
Full statement of Justice Minister Predoiu:
„Since the last information, 122 lawsuits have been processed. 109 are active extradition cases, in which Romania is a requesting state „, said Predoiu. Then he talked about the most famous fugitives:
The case of Puiu Popoviciu: “The European arrest warrant was issued by the Bucharest Court of Appeal, an appeal is being tried in Great Britain. Today we have an unofficial information that the prosecutors informed that the hearings on appeal will start on March 15, 2021 „.
The case of Alexander Adamescu: “The British court ordered his surrender, followed by the settlement of a question – a particular procedure in British law. The procedure will be faster. It’s more of a delaying, which doesn’t seem to have much chance „.
The case of Dragoș Săvulescu: “The Naples Court of Appeal rejected the execution of the warrant in Romania, ordered the execution of the sentence in Italy and the suspension of the execution of the sentence. I am disappointed with the court’s decision. The Italian Minister of Justice can hear. „
The case of Mario Iorgulescu: „Procedure directly between the courts, we do not have details at this time.”
The case of Alina Bica: “European arrest warrant, located in Italy, procedure directly between courts. The Italian court did not officially send details „.
The case of Cristian Rizea: „We are waiting for the proceedings in the Republic of Moldova”.
The case of Sebastian Ghiță: “The Ministry of Justice filed for extradition in 2017, then withdrew the extradition request in June 2018 and March 2019 following the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Ploiești Court of Appeal. At this moment, there is no arrest warrant in the name of Sebastian Ghiță ”.
