Romania's National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) reacted on Thursday to proposals submitted by the governing PSD-ALDE coalition to change the criminal procedure code. The planned changes "would have a devastating effect on criminal inquiries as they eliminate indispensablelegal means by which investigating bodies can pursue criminal inquiries", a DNA press release says. It says a EU directive aimed at strengthening the rules on presumption of innocence, which is used as an argument to introduce the changes, is "just a pretense to eliminate the ability of criminal inquiry bodies to uncover and prove crimes and the purpose of the changes has nothing to do with the presumption of innocence".
- DNA head Laura Codruta Kovesi warned in a statement for Digi 24 channel on Thursday that if applied, the planned changes would leade to the closure of the DNA. "They wouldn't allow us to investigate corruption", she said.