Jurnalistul Robert Turcescu a prezentat miercuri seară, pe Facebook, un document din celebra arhivă Wikileaks, care surprinde momentul în care DNA s-a utilat cu tehnică de interceptare în baza unor fonduri puse la dispoziție de guvernul Statelor Unite.
Discuția prezentată în respectiva stenogramă a avut loc în timp ce ministru al Justiției era Tudor Chiuariu și anume aprilie – decembrie 2007.
Astfel, de aproape 8 ani, DNA ar avea tehnică de ascultare, cu toate că legea spune ca numai SRI are dreptul.
Reamintim că miercuri, în cadrul unui interviu pentru Radio România Actualități, Laura Codruța Kovesi preciza că DNA are propria tehnică de ascultare.
„În primul rând, autorizaţia de interceptare a unei persoane se eliberează de către un judecător, care verifică şi, care, stabilişte dacă sunt întrunite condiţiile legale. Pot să vă zic că DNA are propriul serviciu tehnic prin care îşi poate realiza interceptările, nu în toate cazurile interceptările pe care noi le facem, le facem prin intermediul Serviciului Român de Informaţii, probabil este un element care nu se cunoaşte foarte bine în public”, a spus miercuri Laura Codruţa Kovesi.
Un scandal asemănător s-a lăsat cu demisii în 2007
Un scandal asemănător a fost iscat în urma unor dezvăluiri, din 2007, potrivit cărora Serviciul de Informații Externe ar fi avut propria tehnică de ascultare, deși legal doar SRI are dreptul de a asculta telefoanele.
Claudiu Săftoiu a demisionat din fruntea SIE în 19 martie 2007, după ce declarase în cadrul Comisiei de suspendare a președintelui Băsescu, din 2007, că SIE deține tehnică proprie necesară interceptărilor convorbirilor telefonice, aspect interzis de lege, singurul serviciu cu atribuții în acest sens fiind SRI. Mai mult, Săftoiu a spus la momentul respectiv că interceptările convorbirilor telefonice au fost efectuate cu acordul expres al procurorului general, acest lucru fiind interzis, pentru înregistrarea convorbirilor fiind necesare mandate emise de un judecător.
La doar câteva zile distanță după declarațiile șefului SIE în fața Comisiei de anchetă, Tariceanu, care era șeful Guvernului, era de părere ca demisia lui Claudiu Saftoiu din functia de director al Serviciului de Informatii Externe (SIE) reprezinta o recunoastere ca serviciul a interceptat convorbiri fara autorizatie. „Demisia lui Claudiu Saftoiu de la conducerea SIE echivaleaza cu recunoasterea faptului ca acest serviciu a efectuat interceptari telefonice fara autorizatie, iar comisia parlamentara trebuie sa stabileasca daca procedura a fost aplicata si de alte institutii”, preciza în 2007 premierul Tariceanu.
Documentul Wikileaks prezentat de Robert Turcescu pe pagina sa de Facebook
Wikileaks:
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH ANTICORRUPTION DIRECTORATE CHIEF DANIEL MORAR REF: A) BUCHAREST 491 B) BUCHAREST 469 Classified By: Political Counselor Theodore Tanoue for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: In a May 14 meeting, National Anticorruption Directorate Chief Daniel Morar described to Ambassador the negative effects of recent actions by Parliament and the new Romanian Justice Minister in undercutting the effectiveness of anticorruption prosecutions. Morar said parliamentarians wanted to probe into sources and methods, including the DNA’s technical capabilities, and to establish parliamentary control over all wiretap operations. He reported that recent parliamentary actions had, in effect, decriminalized certain types of bank fraud and money laundering based on such bank fraud. Morar also characterized the new Justice Minister’s dismissal of the DNA’s top investigative prosecutor as an attempt to roll back anticorruption efforts. Morar (and prosecutors close to the Prosecutor General) have told us that they now feel politically vulnerable. If the Justice Minister succeeds in removing the DNA Deputy Chief Doru Tulus, even a reinstated President Basescu may be unable to reverse the damage done to anticorruption prosecutions. End summary. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador met with Daniel Morar, Chief of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), on May 14 to discuss the effects of recent moves by Parliament and the new Minister of Justice Tudor Chiuariu to hinder the effectiveness of the DNA’s anticorruption prosecutions. The Ambassador emphasized that it was essential for Romania to have a strong democracy based on the rule of law–both for Romanians’ sake and as the cornerstone of U.S.-Romanian relations. He noted the extensive training and support the Embassy had provided for the Anticorruption Directorate through the Resident Legal Advisor’s (RLA) programs, including contributing to DNA’s technical effectiveness, and asked Morar how the Embassy could further promote the independence of prosecutors. ¶3. (C) Morar thanked the Ambassador for the Embassy’s attention to the DNA’s anticorruption work and for the training and technical equipment donations (totaling almost $90k for non-wiretapping recording devices) that have made the DNA the first prosecutors’ office in Romania to be able to conduct some modern undercover investigations independent of other institutions such as the police and the domestic intelligence service (SRI). The Ambassador later toured the DNA’s Technical Services and saw how the DNA has put the equipment to use in conducting undercover operations involving multiple cases of bribery of judicial and public officials involving tens of thousands of dollars. The head of the technical service confirmed such equipment did not help to investigate cases of corruption involving higher amounts of money, as millions of dollars did not change hands in the form of currency, but rather through more complicated banking and real estate transactions. Such high-level corruption investigations were conducted by the DNA’s Section II, responsible for Combating Corruption, and usually involved complex financial analysis. Morar noted that two DNA prosecutors were currently in the U.S. receiving training from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on investigating financial crimes thanks to DNA’s permanent contact with Embassy’s RLA. He added that training on investigating financial crimes was crucial to the DNA’s mission and welcomed any additional training the U.S. could provide. Parliament’s Offensive Against Anticorruption Efforts –––––––––– ¶4. (C) Morar explained his and Prosecutor General Codruta Kovesi’s recent refusal to appear before a parliamentary commission on wire tapping, explaining that „we are a separate power – the judiciary cannot be questioned by parliament.” In response to insistence of parliamentary leaders that Kovesi and Morar appear for hearings, Morar said they notified the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), with a request for the CSM to determine whether magistrates are in fact subject to testifying to parliament. Morar emphasized that prosecutors had the statutory right, with a judge’s approval, to have and use wiretapping equipment. He said he told the commission in writing that only SRI had the ability to wiretap and that the DNA only had computers and headphones to listen in. Morar said the parliamentary commission (note: headed by PSD’s Cristian Diaconescu. End note:) was also interested in understanding what type of recording equipment the DNA possessed. He commented, „Now that they know they can be heard, they’re not talking anymore…” alluding to the BUCHAREST 00000556 002 OF 003 difficulty in carrying out the DNA’s mandate to investigate parliamentarians. Morar also commented on the „irresponsible” misrepresentation of the commission publicizing that there were 3,800 wiretap authorizations in 2006 and that most were by the DNA, despite Morar’s having informed parliamentarians that the DNA conducted only 186 wiretaps in 2006. ¶5. (C) Morar said the parliament was debating a controversial draft law that would create a single agency with sole rights to conduct all wiretaps. He said that parliamentary committee would then have the right to review all wiretaps twice a month. Morar emphasized that he was „strongly against” this legislation since some parliamentarians had recently tipped off two members of SRI that they were under investigation by the DNA. Morar believed this political „oversight” of the operational activity of prosecutors would seriously undermine the DNA’s ability to prosecute high level corruption. ¶6. (C) Morar also briefed the Ambassador on the effects of a recent law that decriminalized certain types of bank fraud. He said that the DNA currently had 52 cases involving bank fraud at trial covering at least 200 defendants and that all would be acquitted as a result of this law. Morar claimed that since Parliament had decriminalized bank fraud, there was nothing a judge could do but acquit. He said „we have acquittals each week,” which he pointed out had raised concerns during the European Commission’s monitoring that not only bank fraud, but also money laundering cases would end in acquittals. Morar said that in all these investigations, there was „no other possibility other than having cases closed.”
