Around 16,000 citizens, wiretapped by Romanian Intelligence Service, 2004 through 2016

During the period of 2004-2016 the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) wiretapped the communication of approximately 16,000 citizens, the operations being carried out on the basis of over 9,000 warrants of national security, the head of the General Direction Analysis of SRI, Adrian Paraluta, present at the Rasnov Film and History Festival 2018, stated, according to a post on the festival's Facebook page. 

He denied the information that circulates the public space, namely that SRI would have listened to the phone calls of 6 million Romanians, mentioning that SRI does not have "by far, the resources, nor the operative need to wiretap that many people." 

"We do not have, not by a long shot, the resources, nor the operative need to follow that many people, as the hearsay goes. In reality, during the period of 2004-2016, SRI has requested and received a little over 9,000 national security warrants, that aimed to wiretap the communications of approximately 16,000 citizens. Some of those warrants can be, according to the legislation in place, extended or prolonged. The figure of 6 million people tracked in Romania, that was floated in the media, I do not wish to make any comment on it. SRI issued a press release on this matter, in which the exact statistics are presented," Adrian Paraluta declared, as quoted by the editors of the festival's Facebook page. 

He also said that, according to the quoted source, that SRI does not intercept any sort of communication, nor those sent through the messaging platforms of social media, without a national security warrant. 

According to the quoted page, the head of the General Direction Analysis of SRI made a presentation in Rasnov, with the topic of "The reason behind the intelligence services" within the "Role of intelligence services in modern society" panel.