Prosecutors in Romania have placed 2024 presidential election candidate Calin Georgescu under “judicial control” for 60 days on multiple charges. Those include “incitement to actions against the constitutional order,” the “communication of false information” and involvement in the establishment of an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.”
Romania’s Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election last year just two days before a December runoff vote that Georgescu had been seen as well positioned to win. He came out on top in the first round. The Court said it wanted “to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process.”
Georgescu, 62 was on his way to register as a candidate for the upcoming redo of the canceled election
when he was stopped in traffic by police officers on Wednesday (Feb. 26) and taken to the Prosecutor General’s Office in Bucharest for questioning. The measure of detention for 24 hours was not taken.
He was released around 6 pm after 5 hours of questioning and has denied all wrongdoing, saying in a message to his supporters: “We are the people, we are the power. We will not kneel before anyone. This was expected.”
He will now be under judicial control for 60 days, a status that bars him from leaving Romania and using social media. Prosecutors also said on Wednesday they had raided 47 addresses of people and associations connected to Georgescu.
The new election is scheduled to be held on May 4, with a runoff planned two weeks later on May 18.
With reporting by news agencies
