December 5, 2012

PRESS RELEASE

The Public Information and Press Relations Bureau within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the following:

The prosecutors of the Section for  criminal pursuit and forensics within the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice have finished the investigations in a file known to the media  as “Frauds at the referendum” Cluj and have ordered, on 04.12.2012, the  initiating of the criminal action and the sending to trial of the defendants:

- SAMSON DUMITRU, for committing  the offence of promising, offering and giving of money or other  benefits  for determining the elector to vote during the referendum and association in order to commit crimes;

- NICA TUDOREL, BITU CONSTANTIN SEBASTIAN, MAGUREAN BOGDAN CRISTIAN HANYI NICUSOR STEFAN, each for  complicity at the offence of promising, offering and giving of money or other  benefits  for determining the elector to vote during the referendum and association in order to commit crimes;

- NICULAE NICHOLAS VITTO and CHIRAS GIGI DANIEL, both  for complicity at the offence of promising, offering and giving of money or other  benefits  for determining the elector to vote during the referendum and association in order to commit crimes, as well as for committing  offences of instigation to multiple  voting  within the referendum;

- HOCA DANIEL, HOCA MARIUS IOOAN, HOCA PETRE, LACATUS FLORIN, OTVOS VASILE, ASCHILEAN ADRIAN, HOCA ALEXANDRU, MUZA GABRIEL, OTVOS ALADAR and ZOLESZAK REMUS, each for committing the offence of multiple exercise of the vote within the referendum.   

The bill of indictment drawn up by the prosecutors has retained the following factual situation:

            In the context of the organization , on 29.07.2012, of the referendum for the dismissal of the President of Romania, the  defendant Samson Dumitru has organized an action of mobilization of the electors on the level of Cluj county, in order to exercise the right to vote by the electors, in exchange of  material benefits, consisting in money or  alimentary  products (food and beverages). In order to carry out this mobilization action of the electors, the defendant Samson Dumitru asked the defendants Nica Tudorel, Bitu Constantin Sebastian, Niculae Nicholas Vitto, Chiras Gigi Daniel, whom he borugh  for this scope to Bucharest, as well as  the defendant Magurean Bogdan Cristian (known  in the local shady environment in Cluj Napoca), and with their help, he contacted leaders  of some  communities where the  majority of inhabitants  have a disadvantaged situation (these being persons  without financial resources), for determining them  to  exercise their right to vote against  some amounts of money. So, on 29.07.2012, the defendant Samson  Dumitru has initiated and got associated with the  defendants Nica  Tudorel , Bitu Constantin Sebastian, Nicuulae Nicholas Vitto, Chiras Gigi Daniel Magurean Bogdan Cristian, Hanzi Nicusor Stefan.  to whom  he has promised  and given the amount of 14.000 lei, in order to commit the offence  provided by art. 54 par. 1 of the Law no. 3/2000.

            At the same time, in the same day, the defendant Samson Dumitru has offered, through his co-defendants,  amounts of money (respectively  50 lei for each) to the electors from some communities of the commune Floresti, Cluj county and material benefits (food and beverage in  amount of 1500 lei) to some communities  of the quarter Pata Rat, for determining the electors to vote within the referendum, on the same criteria.

            The file has been send, for competent solution, to the Trial Court Cluj – Napoca.

            We mention that this  phase of the criminal process represents, according to the  Criminal Procedure Code, the  end of the criminal investigation  and the sending of the bill of indictment to the court, for the trial, situation  which cannot infringe  the  principle of  presumption of innocence.