Marian Godina files complaint with HCCJ: Deputy Dan Tănasă accused of abuse of authority
Former police officer Marian Godina has filed a new criminal complaint against AUR deputy Dan Tănasă, this time for abusive conduct towards citizens on Facebook.
Godina attacks again: complaint filed with General Prosecutor's Office over Tănasă's insults against citizens
Former Brașov police officer Marian Godina announced on Monday that he has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice against AUR deputy Dan Tănasă, whom he accuses of abuse of authority. According to Gândul, Godina is asking prosecutors to examine whether a series of insulting comments directed by the parliamentarian at citizens on Facebook constitute the essential elements of this offence.
The action comes shortly after, on 22 October, the General Prosecutor's Office announced that Tănasă had been sent to trial for incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination — a case opened after the deputy urged the refusal of deliveries made by foreign workers, claiming he does not wish for Romania the scenario from other European countries.
"Snot-eater", "applauding like a seal" — the comments at the basis of the complaint
In his Facebook post announcing the legal action, Godina quotes several comments which he attributes to the verified account of Dan Tănasă:
> "Snot-eater", "Dorele, are you serious?", "Cristi, have you got your hands on a solvent bottle again?", "stop abusing bananas and snot or you'll start bleating. Yes, I'm a parliamentarian, that's what this is about, woe to your head", "with you I know you sort it out with snot and bananas", "applauding like a seal", "you started bleating from bananas"."
"These are not assertions invented by me. They are public comments, written from your verified account, which I have saved", the former police officer clarifies.
The legal argument: parliamentary immunity, invoked selectively?
The core of Godina's argument rests on a contradiction which he identifies in the deputy's defence. In the previous case on incitement to hatred, Tănasă invoked parliamentary immunity, arguing that his post represented a political opinion exercised within the scope of his mandate and that he is a parliamentarian "24 hours a day".
Godina turns this argument against the deputy: "If you claim that activity on Facebook represents the exercise of your parliamentary mandate and that you are a parliamentarian 24 hours a day, then a perfectly legitimate question arises: When you call citizens snot-eaters, are you still exercising your parliamentary mandate? Or are you then simply a citizen spending your free time on Facebook?"
He further emphasises that in one of these comments, Tănasă himself wrote: "Yes, I'm a parliamentarian, that's what this is about" — a formulation which Godina considers relevant for legal classification.
The former police officer cites article 296 paragraph (1) of the Penal Code, which punishes "the use of insulting expressions towards a person by one in the exercise of service duties" with imprisonment from one month to six months or with a fine — the offence of abuse of authority. Godina also recalls that Tănasă deleted the post that generated the first criminal case: "It would be interesting for him to explain to us why he deleted that post if it was his political opinion."
Asset declaration also under scrutiny
Godina extends his criticism to the financial situation of the deputy, citing Tănasă's public asset declaration from 2024. According to this, the parliamentarian was loaned by three individuals 840,000 lei, 77,500 lei and respectively 24,500 lei — all with maturity in 2025, representing a total of 942,000 lei, equivalent to over 180,000 euros.
"Did you manage, Mr Tănasă, to return the money in one year? If so, how? From where? Because in one year you earn approximately 139,000 lei, according to the same declaration", Godina writes, also asking who the individuals are who granted these loans and for what reasons.
"Parliamentarian status cannot be invoked selectively"
The former police officer clarifies that the complaint filed with the HCCJ presents the identified comments and asks prosecutors to determine whether the legal conditions for the offence of abuse of authority are met. "What happens next is up to prosecutors and, possibly, the courts", Godina indicates, adding: "Parliamentarian status cannot be invoked selectively, as suits the person who holds it."
Dan Tănasă has not responded publicly to this new complaint as of the time of publication of this article. The trial for incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination, opened following the post about foreign delivery workers, is ongoing.
Source: Gândul