Romanian police chief is fired over claims force is protecting a serial killer after thousands take to streets saying ‘corrupt’ cops turned a blind eye to emergency phone calls pleading for help from ‘murdered’ 15-year-old girl
- Alexandra Macesanu, 15, rang to say she’d been kidnapped on her way home
- Police finally tracked her whereabouts and found her suspected human remains
- The painfully slow police response time has whipped up locals into disgust
- Yesterday evening, 2,000 Romanians demonstrated on the streets of Bucharest
Romania’s chief of police has been fired over the abduction of a Romanian schoolgirl who is feared dead sparked furious protests after officers took 19 hours to respond to her cry for help.
Alexandra Macesanu, 15, rang European emergency number 112 to say she had been snatched by a man while hitchhiking to her home village from the nearby southern town of Caracal.
After authorities finally located the premises where the girl had been dragged to, they found what appeared to be human remains and traces of her jewellery.
The painfully slow response time has whipped up locals into disgust and yesterday saw 2,000 Romanians demonstrate on the streets of Bucharest.
And now Ioan Buda has been sacked as the country’s chief of police by the Interior Minister Nicolae Moga.
Alexandra Macesanu, 15, rang European emergency number 112 to say she had been snatched by a man while hitchhiking to her home village from the nearby southern town of Caracal
Her abduction – which led to her presumed death – has sparked furious protests against the government after police took 19 hours to respond to her cry for help
At the end of the march, a vigil was held for Alexandra where protesters laid flowers and candles outside the interior ministry
They stormed through the capital in the evening waving banners reading ‘corruption kills,’ ‘their blood is on your hands’ and ‘Romania is being killed.’
At the end of the march, a vigil was held for Alexandra where protesters laid flowers and candles outside the interior ministry.
Organisers said in a statement the protest was ‘against the indifference of those in power, their incompetence and lack of empathy.’
Police suspect the remains they found belong to Alexandra and to an 18-year-old girl from a nearby village who was reported missing in April, but forensics analysts have yet to confirm their identity.
On Saturday, suspect Gheorghe Dinca, a 65-year-old mechanic, was detained for 30 days pending a criminal investigation.
Two county officials were also fired late on Friday. On Saturday, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she was considering calling a referendum to introduce harsher sentences for rapists, pedophiles and murderers.
Romanians pay respect in front of a burning candles makeshift shrine, at the end of a protest against the way Romanian authorities handled the kidnapping
The painfully slow response time has whipped up locals into disgust and yesterday saw 2,000 Romanians demonstrate on the streets of Bucharest
They stormed through the capital in the evening waving banners reading ‘corruption kills,’ ‘their blood is on your hands’ and ‘Romania is being killed
Since taking power in late 2016, Dancila’s ruling Social Democrats have changed judicial legislation via government emergency decrees or through parliament without much public debate, chipping away at judicial independence and prompting criticism from the European Union and diplomats.
Amendments to judicial legislation and pending changes to the criminal code ‘have favoured people convicted for corruption,’ a professional association of judges said in a statement on Saturday.
The changes ‘weakened rule of law by depriving criminal investigators of the technical and legal instruments essential for their job, endangering the lives and safety of all Romanians,’ they added.
Organisers said in a statement the protest was ‘against the indifference of those in power, their incompetence and lack of empathy.’