The Superior Council of Prosecutors rejected the proposal made by Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco to cancel the contest for filling the vacant position of Chief Prosecutor of the Special Cases Prosecution Office PCCOCS.

Opening the Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Minister Litvinenco suggested the contest was too tainted by suspicion and reciprocal accusations to go forward. “Since the contest was launched to the present moment, there have been a lot of messages to the SCP and other authorities stating allegations that have a potential to undermine public confidence in the Prosecution Service in general and in the PCCOCS in particular. Therefore, from my point of view, it is crucial to resolve any doubts about the impartiality and objectivity of the process, which have been apparently compromised, as suggested by the submitted reports as well as by the public discussions around the raised reciprocal accusations. Until such suspicions are resolved as part of a proper procedure, the contest should not move on, as the credibility of the process is seriously affected”, stated Litvinenco.

The proposal was rejected by the SCP following deliberation.

A scandal broke out in connection with the contest after Iulian Groza, a civil society representative sitting on the commission for pre-vetting candidates, alleged pressures against him. Subsequently, unverified reports started being spread through Telegram Messenger channels that Groza’s Institute for European Policy and Reform had obtained access to personal data on prosecutor Eugen Rurac, one of the candidates seeking the vacant job.