Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) celebrated the January 2025 ruling by Romania's High Court to uphold a July 2024 acquittal of Gabriel Popoviciu. This verdict marks a significant victory for Popoviciu in a nearly two-decade-long legal struggle regarding the Băneasa development. Judge Liana Arsenie's prior ruling emphasized the manipulation of judicial proceedings by the prosecution. UK courts also rejected extradition requests, citing the risk of judicial bias in Romania. HRWF's director expressed concerns about the prolonged injustice faced by Popoviciu in an EU member country, emphasizing the serious implications for judicial integrity.
The investigating authority assigned fictitious roles and functions and imagined authority relationships. The prosecution was built on a scenario imagined by the prosecutor.
This final court decision is to be welcomed, building as it does on the Bucharest Court of Appeal's ruling last July, as well as earlier court decisions in the UK to refuse Romanian requests to extradite Mr Popoviciu.
There is concern that such a lengthy injustice even took place in Romania, an EU country. There should be particular concern that several courts have now ruled that Mr Popoviciu suffered persecution.
The UK courts refused a Romanian request to extradite Popoviciu on the basis that there was 'a real risk that the appellant suffered an extreme example of a lack of judicial impartiality.'
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