PG asks for harsher penalties in cases of promotion of the personality cult of leaders of extremist organizations

Prosecutor General Alex Florenta calls for the amendment of the criminal legislation and harsher penalties for those who incite to violence, hatred or discrimination in the online environment, but also for promoting the cult of persons who were part of the leadership of a fascist, legionary, racist or xenophobic organization."In the current context in which there is a resurgence in the public space of such manifestations characterized by speech inciting to violence, hatred or discrimination, I would like to make the following clarifications: The Prosecutor General's Office is following with the utmost attention the manifestation of such phenomena that fall within its competence and is taking all the necessary steps to hold all those who are guilty of committing such crimes liable," Alex Florenta said in a press release.He says that the Prosecutor General's Office monitors the situation of files on a semi-annual basis regarding crimes provided for by GEO no. 31/2002, as well as crimes that inciteto violence, hatred or discrimination.In the particular situation in which the perpetrators of these crimes were persons with a special status, among those that would attract the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General's Office, the prosecutors took action ex officio and launched investigations, according to their own powers. Thus, only during 2024, several criminal files were opened in which investigations were carried out against persons with the status of MPs or MEPs.In this context, the Prosecutor General proposes amending the criminal legislation and increasing the punishment limits for those who incite to violence or promote the personality cult for persons who were part of the legionary movement."Considering the recent events and the increasingly exacerbated manifestation in the online environment of illegal behaviours, like urging the public to commit crimes or inciting to violence and discrimination against individuals, there is an urgent need to adjust the existing legislation to correspond to the factual realities and new forms of manifestation of such crimes. From this perspective, the Prosecutor General's Office requested the creation of a working group, which would include representatives of institutions from the judicial system and the Ministry of Interior, in order to work as quickly as possible more legislative amendments, which would provide criminal prosecution bodies with updated and capable tools to effectively combat the phenomenon. With the direct participation of the Ministry of Justice, a first meeting of this working group took place on December 18," mentioned Alex Florenta.