Băsescu: Călin Georgescu case has no connection to politics, arrest was too delayed
Former president Traian Băsescu maintains that the arrest of Călin Georgescu was justified from the moment of the accusations, describing the protests as actions of "a few hotheads".
Băsescu: Georgescu should have been arrested from the moment of coup accusation
Traian Băsescu, former president of Romania, ruled out on Wednesday evening any political connection in the case that led to the preventive arrest of Călin Georgescu, according to Știrile ProTV.
The former head of state declared on B1 TV that the authorities acted with delay compared to when they should have taken firmer measures. "In my view, there was a great delay in moving to tougher measures from the moment he was accused of participation in a possible coup d'état. From that moment he should have been arrested. Things should not have been drawn out," Băsescu stated.
He emphasised that the period during which Georgescu was able to continue his public activity permitted the construction of an artificial political image among an electorate with a reduced level of education. "Well, he was allowed excessively to conduct all sorts of campaigns to develop his false political personality, among people without much education. This is also why PISA tests show us that we do not understand very well what we read and someone like Georgescu succeeds, whom I told you from the beginning was a charlatan," the former president added.
Băsescu insisted that the fraud case is distinct from the other pending cases against Georgescu. "This case has nothing in common with politics. The fraud case has nothing in common with the cases he has related to the use of Nazi insignia or the one related to the coup d'état, these are completely different matters," he clarified.
"A few hotheads" and Georgescu's electoral future
Regarding supporters who gathered at Georgescu's residence in Mogoșoaia, at the courthouse and at the Central Detention Facility, Băsescu downplayed the scale of the protests. Those who take to the streets "are a few hotheads who are belly-crawling on the ground for Georgescu's sake," said the former president, estimating that "gradually the pressure of support for Georgescu will decrease as people understand that the man has actually committed legal violations."
Băsescu also assessed that Georgescu will no longer represent a viable electoral vehicle and that his electorate will not automatically redirect towards AUR. "I believe he no longer has the same traction. Georgescu's electorate does not necessarily mean the electorate that goes to AUR. Georgescu had his own electorate, different from the AUR electorate," he explained, adding that those hoping to easily take over this electorate "are mistaken."
The former president went further, anticipating a decline in AUR precisely for this reason. "That is what I am counting on when I say that AUR's decline is going to begin," Băsescu concluded.
Context: arrest for fraud of 1.1 million euros
Magistrates of the Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered the preventive arrest for 30 days of Călin Georgescu and businessman Ionel Rusen, both accused of fraud worth 1.1 million euros. Georgescu was picked up by police from his residence in Mogoșoaia and handcuffed.
Source: Știrile ProTV