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The government stresses that freedom of the press must be protected and no journalist can be threatened, intimidated or assaulted, government spokesman Dan Carbunaru said on Thursday, in connection with the sentence of those involved in the threat of journalist Emilia Sercan.
"Romania's Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, which is the core value of a democratic state. The gravity of this case, concluded with the conviction of those involved in threatening an investigative journalist, is shocking. The institutions in charge have the duty to hold accountable those responsible in all ongoing investigations. Anyone who commits such acts must be held accountable," Carbunaru said, according to a government press release.
The former rector of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy, Adrian Iacob, and the former vice-rector of the educational unit, Petrica Mihail Marcoci, were handed a mandatory sentence, on Thursday, by the High Court of Cassation and Justice to three years imprisonment with suspension for prompting a police officer from the Academy to send threatening messages to journalist Emilia Sercan.
The supreme court rejected as unfounded the appeals declared by Emilia Sercan, the two defendants and the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA), the sentence applied in May 2021 by the Bucharest Court of Appeal being upheld.
On the other hand, the ICCJ admitted the appeal of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy and ordered that the educational institution should no longer pay for moral damages to the journalist jointly with the two policemen.
By decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, Adrian Iacob and Petrica Mihail Marcoci will stay under supervision for 4 years, during which the two must attend one or more social reintegration programs carried out by the probation service or organized in collaboration with community institutions.
Moreover, Adrian Iacob and Petrica Mihail Marcoci will perform unpaid work for the benefit of the community, for a period of 120 days, in one of the following institutions: the Administration of Lakes, Parks and Recreation Bucharest or the Foundation for the Promotion of Community Sanctions.
The judges admitted in part the civil action filed by Emilia Sercan, who will receive 80,000 RON as moral damages.
In a separate case, police officer Gheorghe Adrian Barbulescu, the one who sent the threatening messages to the journalist, was sentenced by the Bucharest Tribunal to one year in prison with the postponement of the execution of the sentence for committing the crime of blackmail. The decision was made after the police officer pleaded guilty and signed a plea agreement with DNA.
