Horațiu Potra escapes house arrest: ÎCCJ places him under judicial control
The Supreme Court of Cassation and Justice has admitted the appeal of mercenary Horațiu Potra and has replaced his house arrest with judicial control for 60 days.
Supreme Court replaces Horațiu Potra's house arrest with judicial control for 60 days
The Supreme Court of Cassation and Justice (ÎCCJ) admitted, on Thursday, 3 September, the appeal lodged by Horațiu Potra against the house arrest measure imposed on 26 August by the Bucharest Court of Appeal, according to ProTV News. The decision of the highest court is final and places the mercenary under judicial control for a period of 60 days.
By this ruling, the ÎCCJ quashed the decision of the lower court, which, at the hearing on 4 August, had upheld the house arrest "until a new review, but no later than 30 days" and rejected, "as unfounded", Potra's request to replace the measure with judicial control.
Case with 22 defendants, including Călin Georgescu
Horațiu Potra is accused, alongside former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu and 20 other defendants, of actions against constitutional order. Potra is charged with attempted actions against constitutional order, violation of weapons and ammunition regulations and violation of explosives regulations. His son, Dorian Potra, and his nephew, Alexandru Potra, were sent to trial for attempted actions against constitutional order. Previously, the court admitted the appeals of the two, placing them under judicial control after they had been under house arrest.
Georgescu features in the same case for complicity in attempted actions against constitutional order and communication of false information, in continuous form. The former presidential election candidate is also subject to a second case, in which he is accused of legionnaire propaganda and public promotion of persons guilty of genocide and war crimes. On 3 April, Georgescu had definitively escaped judicial control, after the Bucharest Tribunal admitted his appeal.
The trial on the merits can begin
On 6 August, the ÎCCJ rejected appeals made at the preliminary investigation phase by defendants, thus opening the way for trial on the merits at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The ruling from 2 April by the Bucharest Court of Appeal, which had initially authorised trial on the merits, had been challenged at the highest court by both defendants and the Public Ministry. The ÎCCJ clarified that at the preliminary investigation stage, the validity of the accusations is not analysed, nor is the guilt of persons sent to trial. "The establishment of guilt or innocence of defendants can only take place in the course of trial on the merits, in the conditions provided by law and with respect for all procedural guarantees", the highest court stated.
Caught in Dubai, brought to the country in November 2025
Horațiu Potra was detained in Dubai in September 2025 and consented to be brought to Romania, which accelerated the proceedings. In the absence of an extradition agreement with the United Arab Emirates, the proceedings could have lasted considerably longer. He was brought to the country on 20 November 2025, together with his son and his nephew. On 17 June, the ÎCCJ had already decided to replace preventive arrest with house arrest in his case.
Weapons, explosives and stacks of dollars discovered in searches
The case has its origins in events on the night of 7 to 8 December 2024, when police conducted checks in the area of the towns of Balotești-Săftica in Ilfov County and Mănești and Cornești in Dâmbovița County, as well as in the capital. In the vehicles stopped, knives, daggers, telescopic batons, pepper spray, knuckledusters, axes, pistols and pyrotechnic materials from the most dangerous category, with potential to produce powerful explosions, were found.
On 26–27 February 2025, 47 searches were carried out at addresses in Sibiu, Mureș, Ilfov, Timiș and Cluj Counties, targeting 27 persons and four company headquarters, including the home of Horațiu Potra. Investigators discovered in his house, in a safe inset under the floor, packages with stacks of dollars. Potra stated that the law does not oblige him to keep his money at a bank. Numerous weapons were also found at his home; at that time, Potra had stated that he "assumed" the violation of weapons and ammunition regulations, refusing further comment regarding the illegally held weapons.
According to the conclusions of prosecutors, the immediate result of the actions of the 22 defendants consisted in endangering national security, through the creation of a state of danger to constitutional order and to social values that protect the exercise of state power in accordance with the law.
Source: Știrile ProTV