With Arrests and Raids, Romania Expands Probe into Vote Meddling
(Bloomberg) -- Romanian authorities broadened an investigation into interference in the country’s annulled presidential elections following a shock victory by pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the vote.
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While pro-European parties are negotiating a coalition to fend off the far-right, the political turbulence in the NATO member state is far from over.
The top court’s last-minute decision to void the presidential contest left the country in a state of chaos, after the country’s security services attributed Georgescu’s win to Russian meddling.
Their scrutiny of the fringe candidate has increased ever since. This week, law enforcement in the Black Sea country raided properties, questioned social media influencers and detained one of Georgescu’s campaign managers.
On Friday, police and prosecutors raided seven more properties across the country whose owners are suspected of inciting violence and hatred, according to a statement from the General Prosecutor’s office.
In a separate operation late on Thursday, police detained Eugen Sechila, one of Georgescu’s campaign managers, local news outlet Agerpres reported. Sechila was allegedly trying to leave the country and head to the African country of Chad. He was placed under judicial custody and is accused of spreading fascist, racist and xenophobic messages, according to G4 Media.
The prosecutors also questioned several influencers for their role in promoting Georgescu’s social media driven campaign, for which the candidate declared zero funding.
Earlier in the week, the courts also placed Horatiu Potra under judicial custody. Potra, a former French Foreign Legionnaire and leader of a mercenary group with connections to Georgescu, was allegedly planning to stir violent protests in Bucharest after the canceled ballot.
The restrictive measures against him were lifted on Friday after judges accepted his lawyer’s challenge.
The nature of Potra’s links to Georgescu has since been a subject of heated debate, with both men denying close ties. After Georgescu initally denied any connection to Potra, he said late on Thursday that he had met with Potra on Sunday on his team’s advice, in order to discuss ways to boost security for him and his family.
--With assistance from Irina Vilcu.
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