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Romania spy chief blasts court ruling banning surveillance | Romania spy chief blasts court ruling banning surveillance |
(35 minutes later) | |
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s intelligence chief said Thursday a recent court decision that bans his agency from carrying out phone-tapping on behalf of police and prosecutors will harm Romania’s national security. | |
Eduard Hellvig, who heads the Romanian Intelligence Agency, said in a statement that the ruling would make it illegal to monitor espionage, terrorism, organized crime, cybercrime and corruption. He said the agency would respect the court decision. | |
The Constitutional Court recently ruled it was unconstitutional for the agency to tap phones in prosecutions because it was “not an organ for criminal investigation.” | The Constitutional Court recently ruled it was unconstitutional for the agency to tap phones in prosecutions because it was “not an organ for criminal investigation.” |
The anti-corruption prosecutors’ office has successfully prosecuted many high-level officials in recent years and uses the agency’s sophisticated surveillance technology in some of its prosecutions. It said it would need about 10.4 million euros ($11.44 million) and 100 police officers to carry out surveillance. | |
Romania’s national police inspectorate said Thursday the decision meant it would need to hire another 1,000 officers and would ask for an extra 30 million euros ($33 million), while the prosecutor’s office which fights cybercrime and organized crime said it needed 200 extra officers and a budgetary supplement of 20 million euros ($22million) as a result of the court ruling. | |
Constitutional Court President Augustin Zegrean on Thursday defended the ruling, saying: “nobody who is guilty of a criminal act will escape punishment as a result of this decision.” Romania’s supreme defense council will discuss the court’s decision on Friday. | |
Romania, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, has stepped up its fight against organized crime and high-level corruption in recent years. | |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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