JusMin Ion: I have received hints that selecting chief prosecutors should be done by someone else

Justice Minister Stelian Ion said on Thursday that he received suggestions that "it is not okay" for him to coordinate the selection of candidates for these chief prosecutor positions, as that should be done by someone else, "in order to get a preset outcome."

"I have started the selection procedure of candidates for these chief prosecutor positions. First of all, it is the long-standing vacant position of chief prosecutor of the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), there are other positions - section manager at DIICOT, section manager at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), all very important positions. I have received many suggestions over time that it is not right for a minister endorsed by USR [Save Romania Union], or me in particular, to be able to coordinate this activity and that I should not do it, someone else should do it for a preset outcome. There have been clear signals to that effect. I have not said these things clearly, but if things take place in a certain sequence of time and all these things are confirmed, we can draw conclusions," said Ion at the Justice Ministry.

He added that the selection procedure should be transparent and that the institutions should have a dialogue.

"It is more about a particular party; it is about the way it is being discussed. I see this procedure as one that must be transparent, one in which the institutions must collaborate, conduct a dialogue, as far as the legal powers permit, and at the end of the procedure, there should be some proposals that should be accepted by the president, who is the one who has the last word, and to also have the endorsement of the Prosecution Section," said Ion.

He told the magistrates to never accept political suggestions of any kind in their activity.

"My message to prosecutors is to be confident in their work, in their own strength, never to accept political suggestions of any kind in their work. We, the politicians, are obliged to offer all the support to magistrates; not just prosecutors, but also to the judges, to offer them what they need from a logistical point of view in order to carry out their activity independently and unbiasedly. That is why it is very important that at the budget revision, whoever the minister is, for justice spending to get what I have requested," said Ion.