EVZ EDITORIAL: Nastase faces the People's Court

MIRCEA MARIAN: "An actor from Sfantu Gheorge, an engineer from Caracal, a teacher and journalist from Scanteia - are four of the seven deputies who will verify the DNA files on Mitrea and Nastase and will recommend, or not, the start of penal pursuance".

The other three members are Lucian Bolcas, number two of Vadim Tudor's party, liberal Ujeniuc - who's relations with Securitatea have been verified by CNSAS, but he was not sentenced as assistant - and a lawyer from PDL, Petre Ungureanu.

As journalist, I was preoccupied by the activity of the Parliament from June 1991 to July 2007 and I have never seen such a mockery in front of justice. The deputies founded a People's Court that - different by the trials made in the '50 - wants to wash the guilt of Nastase and Mitrea. Sergiu Andon, with his multilateral experience - journalist at "Scanteia" and attorney in the Gheorghiu-Dej and Ceauşescu regimes - will lead the pseudo-judicial and media masquerade. Because, in fact, the deputies who are "analyzing" the "Mitrea" and "Nastase" cases are confronted with two problems: to influence the public opinion by making them victims of Basescu's attorneys and be careful that the press doesn't gain access to the files that may prove something else than Mitrea and Nastase pleaded in front of DNA.

Apparently, the ex-PSD statesmen are more than happy. Nobody believes that the deputies will hand them over to the Justice Hall. Their files of corruption will be burried for ever. "The 322" will never forget the fact that Daniel Morar's term is going to expire in June, so they will take the oportunity to ridiculize the DNA. The attorneys servient to Morar will understand that it is dangerous and at the same time futile to fight well placed persons.

I belive that, for politicians Mitrea and Nastase, it will be a victory "à la Pyrrhus". The entire public opinion will be able to see, during this election period, how the two are running away from the attorneys and how they are begging protection from their Parliament colleagues. The Deputies Chamber will not be capable of keeping the confidential status of the files - the Justice Hall did not classified them - so, they will end up, sooner or later, in the press.

The truth is that I reached the conclusion that the only justice they will get, in Romania, the big corrupts, is the televised one. Maybe, in the end, it's not such a bad thing. After many years since the first investigations, a former statesman, like Nastase, can't be brought in front of the attorneys. Not even one minister, former or actual, under DNA investigation, was put on trial. Under these conditions, the press should ask the Parliament - based on the free acces to information - the files from the Justice Hall and publish them on the Internet. Anyway, the documents can be read by any deputy, if he is, like the liberal Bogdan Olteanu used to say " ofgood faith". Then, instead of popular assessors led by Andon, why not allow the public opinion to judge itself how innocent are the onorable gentlemens Mitrea and Nastase?