Gendarmerie opens internal investigation on arrest of tourists taking pictures of President's home

The Sibiu Gendarmerie Inspectorate has opened an internal investigation on five officers who took into custody two tourists who photographed President Klaus Iohannis's home in Sibiu, Gendarmerie spokesman Alexandru Costea told AGERPRES on Thursday. 

The officer of the Protection and Guard Service on duty at the Iohannis residence called the gendarmes on Tuesday night to check two tourists who were taking pictures of the house on Balea Street. The gendarmes identified the two - a policeman of the Republic of Moldova and a woman - then escorted them to the Sibiu Police headquarters, around 7pm. 

"We just interrogated the databases, as an additional check of their ID," insisted Commissioner Luciana Lazar, spokeswoman of Sibiu Police. 

As nothing suspect was found, the two were immediately released. 

The five gendarmes who collared the tourists are now under investigation. The Sibiu Gendarmerie mentioned that it was legal to take pictures of the President's home from the public domain. 

Since Iohannis, a former mayor of Sibiu, was elected president in 2014, several people had their ID checked after hanging in front of his house.AGERPRES