Former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has announced that the High Court of Cassation and Justice has rendered a final acquittal decision in the "Turceni-Rovinari" case, on the grounds that there is no crime. The sentence comes after 8 years of trial.
"The ICCJ judges have restored the truth, Ponta wrote on Facebook. The case that led, in 2015, to my resignation as PSD president and, subsequently, as prime minister, Ponta writes, ended with an acquittal because "there are no facts that constitute crimes".
Victor Ponta said the criminal case was aimed at removing him from office.
"I never invoked the statute of limitations or any other procedural change or decision of the CCR. I have always been innocent and the criminal case had, from the beginning, the purpose of removing me from office. I am glad I had faith in the judiciary."
The former head of government apologised to the other four defendants in a message posted on social media and expressed regret for the suffering caused to the family.
"I apologise to the other 4 defendants (all acquitted) who were "collateral victims". I am sorry for the suffering of my family and friends during this time. I regret that the Romanian State (i.e. all of us) has paid unnecessary expenses of over 1 million euros - experts, searches, magistrates, lawyers, etc., just to justify an obviously frivolous and unfounded accusation."
At the end of the post, Ponta said that the case had changed his fate, but he did not want "revenge" against the perpetrators.
"I have no expectations and no desire for revenge against the authors of this dossier or those who profited politically. However, I do not want to forget that through this dossier and the resignation imposed, my fate, the fate of many other innocent people and even the political destiny of Romania was changed. I wish that such abuses will never happen again in our country."
In the same case, Laurențiu Ciurel, general director of SC Complexul Energetic Rovinari SA (CER) at the time of the crime, Laurențiu Graure, economic director of CET at the time of the crime, Cristea Dumitru, general director of Complexul Energetic Turceni (CET), Dan Șova, former minister in the Ponta cabinet, were also acquitted.
What were the charges
It is recalled that DNA prosecutors accused that on August 30, 2007 between SCA "Șova and Associates", represented by Dan-Coman Șova and the Individual Law Firm "Ponta Victor-Viorel", represented by Victor Ponta, a "professional cooperation agreement" was concluded, having as its object "the cooperation of the two parties in criminal cases, criminal business law, as well as in other cases in which the need may arise".
The agreement was concluded for an indefinite period, whereby for the professional work carried out in collaboration the fees will be charged by the law firm and Victor Ponta will receive a fixed amount of 2,000 euros, for which he will issue a monthly invoice.
On March 27, 2008, the defendants concluded an additional act to the agreement of professional collaboration, in the sense that the fee due to the defendant Ponta Victor-Viorel was modified to the amount of 3,000 euros (one month earlier, the two energy complexes had concluded with SCA Șova and Associates other legal assistance contracts provided for with a success fee)," DNA prosecutors say in the press release issued in 2015.
Victor Ponta had a court-ordered seizure of his apartment in Bucharest for 7 years in this case. The seizure was lifted by the ICCJ in January 2023.
