2007 anti-graft review: High level corruption is sanctioned in a very mild manner

The activity of the National Anti-corruption Department (DNA), the main body fighting graft in Romania, was affected by legislative changes last year, DNA head Daniel Morar said during a presentation of the DNA activity last year on Tuesday. Morar insisted that while prosecutors are working on many corruption cases, many of them don’t reach court. And the public sector corruption is treated more mildly than that in the private sector, he said.

The DNA review for 2007 was presented on Tuesday in the presence of Romania’s prosecutor general Laura Codruta Kovesi. It was for the first time in the history of the institution that President Traian Basescu was absent from the event.

Morar said DNA has concluded 2,070 cases from a total of 3,319 last year but warned that many of these cases, especially those related to high level corruption, would not reach courts. The head prosecutor of the DNA said that corruption was treated differently at public and private level.

Morar’s conclusions show that the number of solved cases rose by 37% last year, the number of cases reaching court rose by 31.5%, while the number of high profile people investigated rose by 60%. But nobody is scared of corruption sentences any more, Morar said.