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The Senate Law Committee proposed the Standing Bureau that committee hearings of Upper House Chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, who is subject to a request by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) for approval of criminal investigation, take place next Tuesday, committee head Robert Cazanciuc announced.
"Following the request of the Standing Bureau, we proceeded to a preliminary assessment and we will propose the Standing Bureau the hearing of Mr. Tariceanu next Tuesday, ie at the next sitting of the Law Committee," Cazanciuc said.
The Law Committee also forwarded for approval to the Standing Bureau the 14-day deadline for drafting the report on DNA's request for the approval of Tariceanu's criminal prosecution; the Standing Bureau will also assign the report to the agenda of the plenum.
"We came to the conclusion that we don't need more than 14 days to work out the final report, but the Standing Bureau will decide the date of the final report. Last week we started studying the case file. In 5 days, all our colleagues have looked into it and made a first opinion.We still have two weeks ahead, whoever has clarifications to make can do it. Other aspects will probably require further detailing inside the committee after the discussion with Mr. Tariceanu. The case file is at our disposal to study and I think 14 days is a deadline we can fit into. (...) From the preliminary assessment, we don't think we would need more than 14 days. We'll also see what the defense submits in the next period," Cazanciuc explained.
Tariceanu had five days to study his DNA file - which has no less than 73 volumes of 79 to 349 pages each - and after partially having gone through it he said that "the accusations are baseless and the case is actually built for other purposes."
On November 7, the National Anticorruption Directorate asked the Senate to approve the commencement of criminal prosecution for Tariceanu, claiming that during the period 2007 - 2008, when he was a Prime Minister, he had indirectly received material benefits of about 800,000 US dollars from an Austrian company.
The Senate's Standing Bureau last week assigned to the Law Committee DNA's request and the case file on the Senate Chairman.
