Constitutional magistrate Lazaroiu: Venice Commission must be notified

Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) justice Petre Lazaroiu stated on Sunday evening that he talked to his colleagues at the Constitutional Court about the meeting with presidential advisor Simina Tanasescu and reached the conclusion that the Venice Commission must be notified with respect to Thursday's meeting with President Klaus Iohannis' advisor. 

"We have all come to the same conclusion: that I must go public, as they have also understood that there is a danger state," justice Lazaroiu told Antena 3 private TV broadcaster, asked whether he told his colleagues at the CCR about the meeting he had on Thursday with President Klaus Iohannis' advisor. 

The CCR justice Petre Lazaroiu told AGERPRES on Friday that he was called on Thursday by one of President Klaus Iohannis' advisors who communicated to him that the head of state is being summoned by an association to issue a decree for the former's (Petre Lazaroiu, ed.n.) removal from office. 

"I met with Mrs. Simina Tanasescu [presidential advisor, ed.n.] at her request. I went to the Law Faculty where she had exams. She friendly asked me to go to her because she had an ingrate assignment. She told me: here I have this paper [a request from VeDem Just Foundation, calling on the CCR President, Valer Dorneanu, to raise the issue of Petre Lazaroiu's mandate, ed.n.]. I tell her, I know, it is nonsense, it has been circulating for about two weeks, I am not taking it into account. She saas, well the president is being imperiously asked to issue a decree. With what subject? Well, your removal from office. I tell her, you know it has no grounds, no prerogative. Yes, but as the situation stands, if he does not issue the decree, the respective association will sue us, if he issues it you sue us. I said: this will certainly be the case," Petre Lazaroiu reported. 

He added that a plausible reason for this situation would be the extension of the deadline for issuing the decree removing from office the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi. 

"The public opinion must know, because this matter is far-reaching. It is not mine. I do not even count in this equation. (...) If this happens there is a very plausible reason (...) for the president to say: until we do not sort things out with Lazaroiu's mandate I will not issue the removal from office decree [of Laura Codruta Kovesi, ed.n.]," Lazaroiu said. 

The Presidential Administration specified in a press release sent to AGERPRES that Simina Tanasescu had a technical discussion, without the involvement of the Institution of Romania's President, with justice Petre Lazaroiu about the request of civic association VeDem Just, underscoring that any kind of speculations and insinuations concerning possible pressure exercised on the magistrate are completely false and unsubstantiated.