Around 2,000 supporters of former Romanian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu protested for a sixth consecutive night in front of the Central Detention Center in Bucharest. They demanded his release, after about 1,000 people gathered at the same place on Saturday night.
The demonstrations began on September 29, when a court ordered Georgescu to be detained for 30 days. He is being investigated by the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism on suspicion of forming an organized criminal group and fraud with particularly serious consequences.
The investigation is about promised funding
Romanian authorities are investigating Georgescu and four other suspects. Prosecutors say the group defrauded Romanian businessman Razvan Leu by promising him access to multi-million euro bank financing abroad in exchange for a 1.1 million euro bail. The allegations are part of the investigation and do not constitute an established guilt.
Georgescu is also facing two other criminal cases. One is for alleged acts against Romania's constitutional order by planning a coup attempt, and the other is for alleged propaganda of fascist ideology. Georgescu won the first round of the 2024 presidential election, which was later annulled.
Simion calls for new demonstrations
The leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, Gheorghe Simion, has called for new protests and for the mobilization of Romanians in France and the United States. “I ask you all to mobilize! "Every one is needed," he said.
Simion, who is the leader of the second parliamentary force, indicated that the culmination of the protest series will be a rally in support of Georgescu in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels. He described the former presidential candidate as a person who, in his opinion, is "persecuted on political grounds." This is Simion's political assessment, not a judicially established fact.
Sources: BTA, Ziare