Romanian MPs Turn Down Amnesty Bill
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Newly-elected Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Photo by EPA/BGNES
A draft law on amnesty and pardons that would have helped jailed Romanian politicians was overwhelmingly rejected by the country's Parliament on Tuesday.
Just a day after Klaus Iohannis was surprisingly confirmed as Romania's new President after a run-off vote on Sunday, MPs decided with a nearly unanimous vote (293-1, 1 abstained) there will be no amnesty for inmates serving sentences of up to six years for non-violent crimes, Romania's agency Agerpres reported.
Iohannis also informed of the move on Twitter, saying the law had been rejected after spending over a year in the drawers of Parliament.
Various ministers, including former PM Adrian Nastase, officials and magistrates are presently behind bars after Romania's judiciary started a campaign to investigate and bring before court some key figures of the country's transition to democracy.
President Iohannis had called on lawmakers to turn down the draft legislation.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who was defeated in the presidential run-off, had vowed that his Social Democrat Party would also reject the draft.
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