Romania President Iohannis calls for resignation of top organised crime prosecutor

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called on Monday evening for the resignation of Felix Banila, the head of the organised crime prosecutor’s office DIICOT. Iohannis pointed on how the inquiry has gone into a major murder scandal as the reason for his move.

President Iohannis said the inquiry into the so-called Caracal case – the abduction and murder of a teenage girl in the Southern town of Caracal this summer, despite the victim’s repeated calls for help, a case brought light onto another similar case in the same area – generated „major question marks”.

The head of state criticised the way the family of one of the victims in Caracal has been treated for the past several days. And he said that DIICOT should have shown more professionalism and credibility. „But this did not happen under the management of Mr Banila,” Iohannis said.

Banila was named as chief prosecutor of DIICOT in July 2018, by presidential decree, at a time of major turmoil among judicial institutions under the political pressure of the governing Social Democrats.