Victor Ponta, who quit as Romania’s prime minister this week after mass protests, on Friday made his first appearance in court on corruption charges.
As thousands of people again took to the streets demanding the overhaul of a political system they see as corrupt, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said the country might hold early elections or seek to form a government of technocrats.
Ponta, who resigned on Wednesday after huge street protests sparked by a deadly nightclub fire, appeared at the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice for a preliminary hearing on charges of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.
The charges related to a period between 2007 and 2011 when he was working as a lawyer, before he became prime minister in 2012.
The 43-year-old former Social Democrat leader, who denies the charges, ignored questions from the large media scrum that greeted him at the court.
The hearing was focused on procedural matters and dealing with lawyers’ requests, a court spokesman said. No date has been set for the start of the trial, which is expected to open in the coming weeks.
Prosecutors also suspect Ponta of conflicts of interest while in government, but that probe was stymied when parliament — where his Social Democrat party holds a comfortable majority — refused to lift his immunity from prosecution.
While he is no longer prime minister, Ponta remains a member of parliament and continues to enjoy immunity.
Despite his legal troubles, Ponta had previously ruled out resigning, but changed his mind when last week’s fire at a Bucharest nightclub — which left 32 dead and nearly 200 injured — saw tens of thousands demonstrate as a wave of grief and anger swept the country.
Many saw the tragedy at the Colectiv nightclub as a sign that nothing has changed in one of Europe’s poorest and most corruption-prone nations.
Ponta’s resignation has failed to appease public anger, and on Friday about 15,000 people turned out across several major cities in the fourth night of protests.
“Too much corruption, not enough justice,” and “corruption kills” chanted protesters in Bucharest, while others held a silent march in memory of the victims of the nightclub fire. Several hundred people marched through the city before placing candles outside the Colectiv nightclub.
Criticized for its silence after the tragedy, the Romanian Orthodox Church also said bells would toll across the capital just before midnight in mourning for those who died in the fire.
Under sustained pressure from protesters, the president has told representatives of the country’s parties that Romania might hold early elections or form a government of technocrats.
On Thursday, the president also met about two dozen members of civil society groups involved in the protests, who said they want “new political figures” to take over, echoing the demonstrators’ calls for a “profound change” of the political system.
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