Romanian President Klaus Iohannis sparked a storm of criticism Thursday for challenging a tax ruling against a media group whose boss is serving 10 years in jail for fraud. Elected in late 2014 pledging to uphold the rule of law and fight corruption, Iohannis described the Romanian tax department's decision against the group Intact, which runs five TV channels, as "inappropriate (and) debatable."
"You can't quash freedom of expression for a banal administrative reason," the president added. But the tax department decision was based on a Bucharest appeal court ruling which in August 2014 ordered the seizure of assets belonging to Intact's boss, Dan Voiculescu.
Iohannis' Facebook page was immediately flooded with criticism, with thousands of people saying they felt "betrayed" and regretted having voted for him in presidential ballots. "Since when has it been an abuse to respect the law?" asked one online critic, Marian Ursu, while another, George Verinica, said it was unacceptable that Iohannis "comes out in favour of those who do not respect the law."
According to news website Hotnews.ro, Iohannis lost an unprecedented 12,000 "likes" in less than a day. Romania's Superior Council of Magistracy condemned "messages likely to harm the independence and reputation of the judicial system, in violation of the principles of the rule of law."
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