Romania’s Prosecutor General Tiberiu Nitu filed his resignation on Tuesday, arguing that this is a gesture of responsibility and honour given the fact that his name “has been artificially linked to a situation that damages the image of the institution.”
“Although the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report validates the result of my work as head of the Public Ministry and so do data to be reported in March, since my name and the office I represent are artificially linked to a situation that might impact the image of the institution I manage, I have decided – as a gesture of responsibility and honour – to submit my resignation from the position of Prosecutor General,” Nitu wrote in a press release.
Nitu claims that he did not request and did not use an official motorcade in the sense in which that term is legally defined and that he was offered a police detail for escort and protection.
“Establishing a certain level of protection for various categories of officials and implementing the protection measures is the prerogative of specialised state institutions, not of the beneficiary of the protection,” Tiberiu Nitu added.
He claims that “the protection measures offered to Romania’s Prosecutor General by specialised state institutions are proportional to the potential risks he is exposed to when exercising certain prerogatives, as they are stipulated by current legislation.”
The Presidential Administration announced shortly afterwards that President Klaus Iohannis has received Nitu’s resignation and accepted it.
“Prosecutor General’s decision to resign is a correct gesture, of assuming responsibility and of bringing reduced damage to the image of the Public Ministry” , Justice Minister Raluca Pruna stated in a press release shortly after Nitu’s resignation.
Tiberiu Nitu is mentioned by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) as an illegal beneficiary of some police motorcades, in a criminal case opened against former Internal Affairs Minister Gabriel Oprea.
Upon announcing his resignation, Nitu says he never had a motorcade in the legal sense of this term, but got a police escort proportional to the risk associated to his position, as per the legal norms in force.
Tiberiu Nitu has been Prosecutor General since 16 May 2013. He had been appointed in office for a three-year term.
Before being appointed Attorney General, Tiberiu Nitu had been inspector within the Superior Magistracy Council’s Judicial Inspection since September 2011, dealing with the Muntenia, Oltenia and Dobrogea regions. He was fist deputy of the Prosecutor General from 27 June 2008 to 27 June 2011. Prior to that, he was delegated to that position for ten months. Basically, he was Anticorruption Prosecutor Codruta Kovesi’s right-hand man for almost four years.
