PG Lazar says he reserves right to act according to legal procedures in force

Romania's Prosector General Augustin Lazar stated on Thursday that Justice Minister's statement regarding the discovery of a fraud in his candidacy file for this office proved to be "a manipulation of the public opinion" and announced that he reserves his right to take action according to the legal procedures in force. 

"The statement regarding the alleged fraud, after two and a half years, in the appointment process of the prosecutor general turned out to be totally lacking support of evidence and, more than that, it proved to be a manipulation of the public opinion, a manipulation and an unjustified suspense regarding a statement that was made in an interested manner, in order to serve a visibly vitiated dismissal procedure. I would like to tell you that at a mere reading of the Superior Council of Magistracy [CSM] decision of 21 April 2016, we will be able to see that the Prosecutors' Section meticulously checked each of the legal conditions that were imposed on the candidates, namely minimum 10 years seniority, the lack of sanctions over the last 3 years - and please note that only for the lack of sanctions the three-year term was required - and it was still necessary the condition of a very good mark at the last assessment. Therefore, the Superior Council of Magistracy, which is the guarantor of the independence of justice, established that all the legal conditions for the candidates were met. The rest is politics and I reserve the right to act according to the legal procedures in force," PG Augustin Lazar stated upon entering the CSM headquarters.