Romania: mafia lawyer to head Legal Commission?
The controversial Romanian lawyer Laura Vicol (PSD) has been elected head of the Legal Commission of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies by the new government. She has represented criminal gang leaders in recent years and repeatedly criticised the Anticorruption Directorate and the rule of law. The PSD has announced it will review the nomination next Monday.
Chosen by organized crime leaders
Adevărul suspects that organized crime gangs had a hand in the appointment:
“Organized crime has decided that this time it is better to secure the domain of the judiciary and promote one of their own to a higher position in order to secure protection from the law. The demimonde's chosen one is none other than deputy Laura Vicol, who has represented them in numerous lawsuits. Well-informed circles believe that her appointment as president of the Legal, Discipline and Immunities Commission of the Chamber of Deputies is only the first step in a larger plan, the main objective of which is to promote her to head of the Ministry of Justice when one day the PSD rules alone.”
An unwise and embarrassing appointment
G4Media.ro sees Vicol's nomination as a ticking time bomb:
“With this scandalous appointment, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu is on the verge of compromising all his efforts to get rid of his party's image as an anti-justice party dominated by deeply corrupt politicians, the mafia and organized crime. It is only a matter of time before the past and present of a person like Laura Vicol explode in his face. And if President Klaus Iohannis still has a modicum of respect for the hundreds of thousands of Romanians who protested in the cold for days and weeks in 2017 to defend the judiciary, he has a duty to prevent this major weak point in the Romanian state.”