The judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal remained to pronounce a decision on Tuesday in the Colectiv case, in which the former mayor of Sector 4 Cristian Popescu-Piedone was sentenced in the first instance to 8 years and 6 months in prison for abuse of office.
On Tuesday, magistrates gave the lawyers a week to submit written conclusions for their clients, noting that the solution would be postponed, without specifying a date when they would pronounce the final decision.
On Monday, the lawyers of those tried in this case asked the court to acquit or apply milder sentences, considering that the prosecutors would be wrong when they decided to prosecute their clients, but also the magistrates of the Bucharest Court, when they pronounced execution sentences.
At Friday's deadline, anti-corruption (DNA) prosecutors and the General Prosecutor's Office asked for punishments "oriented to the maximum provided by law" and with execution for the former mayor of Sector 4 of the capital Cristian Popescu-Piedone, functionaries from the city hall, the owners of the club, two firefighters, two pyrotechnicians and representatives of a fireworks company.
The prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office stated before the judges that, even after the tragedy in the Colectiv, many economic operators refuse to take their authorizations for the fire, only displaying on the window that they do not have it, but the announcement does not exonerate them of criminal liability.
"The risks are even greater. (...) They may have the impression that they are not criminally liable because the victims assume to burn alive when they enter a place without notice. (...) Even if the society is marked by the tragedy in Colectiv, it can happen again at any time," the investigator said.
For his part, the DNA prosecutor asked the court to apply maximum and execution sentences, claiming that "the soft attitude of the court of first instance is inexplicable".
The investigator added that the social order was "altered" by corruption, and people burned, "and we are not talking about two, but a cemetery".
In the tragedy of Colectiv club, 65 persons lost their lives and over 160 got injured, on the night of 30 October 2015. AGERPRES.
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