President Klaus Iohannis has been fined RON 2,000 by the National Anti-Discrimination Council (CNCD) for having used the term “criminals” in a discriminatory manner. The Council’s members voted 5 to 4 in favour of the fine.
More specifically, the Council decided that the president discriminated when he made the statement: “Some criminals are making a desperate attempt to attack and discredit the Anti-Corruption Agency (DNA)”.
CNCD received a notice in February from the website luju.ro (The World of Justice), which claimed that it was unacceptable for such a message to be perpetuated and for everyone to call each other “criminal”, “felon”, and “convict”, words that “are considered discriminatory in the civilised world, especially in the EU, and can lead to hateful and violent reactions.”
The notice also refers to DNA chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, who in a press conference had talked about “a festival of culprits”. However, the CNCD rejected the complaint.
President Iohannis reacted to the fine by saying that it was a “political decision” and that he will challenge the decision.
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