JusMin Predoiu about Tandarei case: Either there was no evidence or the judges ignored it

Minister of Justice Catalin Predoiu on Tuesday said about the final acquittal of the 24 persons accused of sending children to beg in the UK, that "either there was no evidence or the judges ignored it." 

Asked what was his opinion about the acquittal of all 24 defendants accused of child trafficking in the Tandarei file, Predoiu said: "I was also disturbed by this result. And there can only be two explanations: either there was no evidence or the judges ignored it. However, something seems to be wrong, no matter which of the two possibility is the one that actually happened. And there was also another expert in criminal investigations who said the same thing and he also seemed to know more. So its clear that there are problems to be solved in our justice system, which is why we are making efforts to carry out this procedure [appointing the Chief of the General Prosecutor's Office, DNA and DIICOT - editor's note] and to have a Public Ministry headed by leaders appointed according to the law, to have all the necessary legitimacy to do a better jobs and take things more seriously than we saw happening lately." 

The Targu Mures Court of Appeal ruled a final decision on Monday to acquit all the 24 defendants in the Tandarei file, who were accused of being a network that sent children to beg in the UK, as the respective crimes became prescribed, in most cases. 

According to the prosecutors, the network in Tandarei, Ialomita county, was accused of taking advantage of the poor Roma people, who received loans they cannot repay and, in return, they gave their children to those to whom they were indebted, which children were then sent to UK to steal or beg. 

The indictment based on which the 24 defendants were sent to trial in the first place showed that the searches conducted at their homes revealed two AKM machine guns, five hunting guns, a gas gun and a ball one. There were also discovered luxury cars, jewelry and large sums of money, as well as powers of attorney for the custody of minors who have been taken to the UK for begging and other small offenses, as well as for social security collection.