Romanian Activists Slate Move to Let Criminals Hold Office

Romanian activists have called for fresh public protests on Thursday after the government issued a draft law that might allow politicians found guilty of crimes to hold public office once they have been rehabilitated.

A law dating from 2001, which bans convicted felons from serving in government, prevented the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party, Liviu Dragnea, from becoming Romania's Prime Minister in January.

Dragnea has a two-year suspended jail sentence for trying to rig a presidential impeachment referendum in 2012.

Under the old law, to become a member of the government, a politician has to be a Romanian citizen, reside in the country, enjoy electoral rights - and must have no criminal convictions.

However, the new draft, posted on the Ministry of Development and Public Administration website, adds a new provision - by which a person with a criminal conviction who has been rehabilitated can hold public office.

The Minister of Development, Sevil Sehhaideh, who is one of Dragnea's close allies, claimed the draft law had been put together in 2016 by the former government led by Dacian Ciolos.  

However, Ciolos replied on his Facebook account to say that his cabinet never discussed the draft.

According to Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader, regardless of the new draft, Romania's criminal code already entitles rehabilitated individuals to exercise the same rights as all other citizens. "Once the [court] sentence is fulfilled, all bans are lifted and all rights are reinstated," Toader said.

However, Romanian law only allows the rehabilitation of convicted felons in milder cases concerning fines, jail sentences of up to two years, or suspended jail sentences.  

Activists accuse the cabinet of trying to...