Romania’s convicted former minister finds refuge in Italy

Former finance minister Darius Valcov, convicted of a six-year prison sentence by the Romanian High Court for influence peddling and money laundering this week, has, like other famous Romanian convicts before him, found refuge in Italy.

Valcov’s case has reignited criticism, as foreign courts have so far not accepted Romania’s extradition requests, with the notorious citing poor prison conditions in Romania as the main reason.

Faced with criticism in the media and public opinion, and in the context of new EU anti-corruption rules, Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said it is “counter-productive” to thwart the effort to fight corruption in EU member states by “ignoring the principle of recognising final decisions in criminal matters in other states”.

According to her, the consolidation of anti-corruption legislation at the national level and in the EU needs to be accompanied by good judicial cooperation between member states, particularly with regard to the principle of mutual recognition of final criminal judgements.

USR, the main opposition party, urged Predoiu on Thursday to raise the issue in the next EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, saying she had “the obligation” to do so.

“The problem of the damage done to justice in Romania by the decisions of the Italian courts, which not only refuse the requests of the Romanian courts, but there are cases in which the Romanian justice system has re-discussed the punishments enforced, so that the deprivation of liberty penalties have become suspended sentences”, USR said.

The list of “famous fugitives” in Italy includes former social democrat Ion Arsene, former financier of the Dinamo football club Dragoș Săvulescu, former anti-mafia head Alina Bica, ex-officer of the intelligence service Daniel Dragomir, the former head of Romania’s food safety authority Marian Zlotea and Mario Iorgulescu son of Gino Iorgulescu, president of the Professional Football League.

Former Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu, sentenced to 10 years and eight months in jail for corruption, is in Greece.

(Cătălina Mihai | EURACTIV.ro)