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The Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi, requested on Monday the notification of the Senate about a demand to investigate former Vice Prime Minister for national security and Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea on two counts of abuse of office with the purpose of obtaining undue advantages for himself or for others during his ministerial tenure.
The offence of abuse of office consists in using the human and material resources of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) in order to provide, unlawfully, the escorting by road police units of travels made by Oprea, the DNA informs in a statement to STIRIPESURSE.RO
According to the prosecutors, the law provides that ministers can benefit from escorting by road police units only in special emergency circumstances.
The prosecutors have come to the conclusion that the road police had escorted Oprea in his trips to private destinations, such as private visits to the headquarters of political parties, to restaurants, and on his daily commute from and to work. Moreover, they allege that the minister benefitted from road police units escorting also outside of office hours and during holidays, when emergencies cannot be justified in an objective way.
They also allege that the evidence shows that Minister Oprea was making, on average, five trips daily, during which he was escorted by road police units. For instance, he made 1,607 such trips between January 2 - October 21, 2015 within the Bucharest municipality. The total number of relevant police missions is approximately three times higher than those made for the President of Romania, within the same period, and twice higher than those made for the prime minister, officials who are legally entitled to permanent escort.
The DNA asserts that by committing the alleged offences, Oprea prevented the General Police Directorate of the Bucharest Municipality from fulfilling one of its crucial tasks - to supervise and control traffic on public roads, thus hampering the traffic. The unlawful use of the cars also brought a material prejudice to the police, i.e. the equivalent of the fuel used and of the resulting wear of its vehicles. Moreover, the minister allegedly obtained an undue advantage, namely shortened his travel time.
According to the DNA, on several occasions it has been suggested to the minister to give up his escort, but he expressly requested the presence of the road police units.
