Tuesday, December 10th

The high power laser from Magurele will be operational at the end of next year

The high power laser from Magurele will be operational at the end of next year, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has said on Tuesday, after visiting the platform near Bucharest. He promised that the government would support the activity of „Horia Hulubei” National Research and Development Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, to support the capitalization on the presence of the most powerful laser in the world and especially the research that will be carried out in different sectors such as nuclear physics or medicine.
Ludovic Orban: I was interested in the possibility that private partners or public partners from other countries to carry out experiments. I was very interested in the areas that could yield results which might practically help implement the research carried out with this laser.
The director of the Magurele Institute Nicolae Zamfir has also said that the ELI project needs national financial support, from the Government, in addition to the European funds. The project also needs visibility at European Commission level and beyond, Nicolae Zamfir said.

Court decision postponed in the „Colectiv” file

The Bucharest Court has postponed for Monday, December 16, the preilminary sentence in the „Colectiv” case, where the former mayor of Sector 4, Cristian Popescu-Piedone and the club’s owners are on trial among other defendants. The file was first sent to the court in April 2016. The trial was then transferred to the Bucharest Court. Two other files from the National Anticorruption Directorate have been attached to the main file. Two years ago, the trial was blocked on procedural issues, and the judge who initially nominated to deal with this case retired an was replaced in October 2018. The new judge promised that he will speed up the settlement of the case and managed to hear hundreds of witnesses and victims in one year. The debates ended last week.

Appeal filed by former Social Democratic leader Liviu Drangea rejected in the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal filed by the former Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea, regarding a reversal of his conviction. The decision is final. The former Parliament Speaker requested a repeal of the three and a half prison sentence that he is currently serving. In the appeal filed almost two months ago, Liviu Dragnea’s lawyers argued that the sentence should be annulled, and the trial repeated, because the procedures regarding the judicial team were not respected. Liviu Dragnea has been detained at the Rahova penitentiary since the end of May and has to execute 3 years and 6 months in the case of fictitious employment at the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Teleorman.

Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR