Big public demonstrations following a fire in a Bucharest nightclub in which more than 50 people died reflect growing anger at a culture of official graft in one of Europe’s most corrupt countries.
In the two weeks since it emerged that the Colectiv club had no fire-safety permit, nearly 100,000 Romanians have poured onto the streets shouting “corruption kills” in protests at the sleaze that undermines public administration and basic services.
For many, the nightclub deaths were the first time it had become clear how corruption and greed could result in multiple fatalities.
Romania’s anti-corruption prosecuting agency, known by its acronym DNA, has been cracking down on high-level graft and investigations have shown how deeply entrenched it is — from conflicts of interest and abuse of power to fraud and the award of state contracts in exchange for bribes.
“Corruption is draining state resources toward a narrow stratum of privileged people, to the detriment of the majority of the population,” DNA chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi said.
“It distorts honest competition, either in business or public office. As a result, holding public office ... is based on connections and money, investors with serious projects are discouraged, and the effects are visible in the quality of public services and infrastructure.”
The demonstrators included young, well-educated urbanites, active on social media and increasingly angry at politicians.
However, many remain pessimistic about any real chance of reform once the furor that followed the nightclub blaze subsides. The protests were among the biggest Romania has seen for years, but still small for a nation of 20 million.
“The Colectiv tragedy made an impressive number of people mobilize quickly because it served as a pressure valve for major discontent against the Ponta government in particular and the political class in general,” said Sergiu Miscoiu, an associate professor at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, referring to former Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta.
However, “it is unlikely public policies would change radically,” Miscoiu added.
The protests, which lasted a week, caused the resignation of Ponta, but failed to answer many questions over security and failed oversight.
“Before the fire happened I wasn’t thinking about safety,” said Liviu Vasile, a 38-year-old electrician who joined the protests. “Now, I can’t help but feel unsafe, especially for my two children. Tragedies like the fire would happen again. When the system is corrupt, nothing works.”
Prosecutors have investigated some of the most powerful people in Romania, including Ponta, who is on trial for forgery, money laundering and complicity in tax evasion, charges he denies.
They have also investigated institutions and companies, exposing graft in government, healthcare, education and the judiciary.
The number of convictions obtained by DNA has risen steadily year after year. In the first 10 months of this year, DNA sent more than 900 people for trial, including members of parliament, cabinet ministers and mayors. The agency has a conviction rate of 90 percent and last year secured a record 1,138 convictions.
Romania’s fight against corruption is about a decade old and DNA sent its first cases for trial in 2005 and 2006. The independence of magistrates was guaranteed in 2004, when Romania was a candidate for EU membership. The crackdown intensified under Kovesi, the nation’s former prosecutor general.
Romanians now have significantly more confidence in DNA than in government or parliament, opinion surveys show.
The downside is that people now expect DNA to take on even cases that are not in its purview, Kovesi said.
However, this popularity has helped increase the number of tip-offs, the starting point for most DNA investigations.
“The corruption debate has become one of the main themes in Romanian society,” Kovesi said. “The fact that we are starting to have a high level of intolerance of corruption is partly due to the activity of anti-corruption prosecutors.”
The fire has underscored more problems, due not only to graft, but to chronic underfunding of healthcare and education, poor legislation and politicized state institutions.
Interim Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Cimpeanu has said only a fraction of the nation’s schools have fire inspection permits.
DNA’s ongoing investigation into the Colectiv fire has shown multiple failures. Prosecutors have said fire inspectors deliberately did not record the club’s problems.
The district mayor gave it a permit even though it lacked proof of the mandatory fire inspection. The owners barricaded the windows and a back door and allowed too many people into the club. Contractors put up insulation that was not fireproof.
The government has tightened fire inspection legislation, but it remains to be seen how well it is enforced.
“If the legislation were enforced today, the majority of Bucharest businesses would need to close because of fire inspection permits, labor safety, food safety, construction regulations,” Aspen Institute Romania executive director Andrei Tarnea said.
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