DNA requests three-year prison sentence for Calin Popescu-Tariceanu

National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors have requested, on Tuesday, at the Supreme Court, a three-year prison sentence for Senate's President Calin Popescu Tariceanu, in the file in which he is accused of perjury.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice discussed on Tuesday the last term of Calin Popescu Tariceanu's file and the court prosecutor took advantage of the opportunity and reiterated the accusations in the indictment, and the lawyer took the final plea in this case.

The Court remains to rule and will announce the decision on the 22 May.

Upon Tuesday's term, the DNA prosecutor upheld, in front of the Court, that the President of the Senate, at every opportunity, completely disregarded that allegations are thoroughly substantiated, and in an "act of total arrogance" he came with all sorts of evidence or justifications in order to maintain his own version of the accounts, adding that "he had a puerile defence, unfit for higher education."

The investigator also showed that "the obligation to be honest is completely alien to Calin Popescu Tariceanu."

"We therefore consider the deed was perpetrated, beyond any doubt, and as such we are asking for a three-year prison sentence. This is the only way in which the behavior can be corrected and the role of the punishment be ensured. Upon setting the punishment and its length, please keep in mind the complexity of the deed and the social impact that was produced by such a deed conducted by a former prime minister," the DNA representative said.

Furthermore, Calin Popescu Tariceanu's attorney requested the judges to exclude the official records that were issued based on the national security warrants from 2008 - 2014, specifying that "they have neither relevance nor grounds." The defender also showed that the crime that his client is accused of is not based on evidence.

Calin Popescu Tariceanu was sent to trial by the DNA on July 7 2016 for perjury and favoring the perpetrator. According to DNA, within the investigation files on the illegal property restoration rights of a surface of Snagov Forest and Baneasa Farm, Tariceanu made on 15 April 2016 untrue statements under oath, regarding essential aspects of the case which he was asked upon, and didn't say all that he knew in connection with essential circumstances, pursuing to hinder / prevent the criminal responsibility of the culprits investigated in the case file sent to court. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mihai Stoica editor: Georgiana Tanasescu EN - author: Catalin Cristian Trandafir, editor: Simona Iacob)