UPDATE – The Superior Council of Magistracy ruled on Tuesday that former President Traian Basescu undermined the judicial system as a whole by asserting that "Judicial Inspection and SCM have become a club meant to strike at" anyone who talks about justice.
"The Superior Council of Magistrates found that the allegations of Mr. Traian Basescu, former President of Romania uttered during a telephone intervention dated April 29, 2015 on TV B1 TV, on the work of the Judicial Inspection and the Superior Council of Magistracy, but also about the judicial activities undertaken by judges and prosecutors, published by the media, are likely to affect the independence of the judiciary as a whole, " CSM says in a press release.
The SCM report also shows that the former president’s statements , which promoted the idea that the activity of the Judicial Inspection and the SCM are conducted with bias in terms of defending the independence of the judiciary, meaning that they support a corrupt judiciary system and the work of magistrates, judges and prosecutors has not reached the goal set by the law, inducing the idea that it was deficient in that there was a discretionary justice being enforced "undermines the judicial authority and the independence of the judiciary".
"The statements made in the public space in a context where, on April 29, 2015, as a result of other statements of the former President of Romania, the Plenary Council found that he acted against the independence of the judiciary," the report said.
During the verification s conducted, they emphasized that the impact of Traian Băsescu’s statements over the public opinion is a very powerful one through the office previously held, that of president of Romania, through his capacity of media influencer as well as because of the means of expression used.
Therefore, the Council’s plenum found that Băsescu’s statements “have exceeded the admissible limits of the political public speech and of freedom of expression, interfering with the independence of the justice system as a whole”.
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Traian Băsescu’s attacks against justice will be analyzed today by the SCM.
The Superior Council of Magistracy debates today the report of the Judicial Inspection on the defamatory statements made by the former president against the judiciary.
Basescu said that the judicial inspection and CSM have become a club that strikes those who criticize the justice system. Moreover, he accused the magistrates of corruption and spoke about the "guantamization" of Romania..