REPORT on the cases regarding Silviu Laurentiu Rosioru and Constantin Vrabie from Buzau

1. On 4 February 2000, two APADOR-CH representatives went to Buzau to investigate two abuses perpetrated by police officers with the Buzau emergency intervention sub-unit.

By means of IGP order no. S074594 of 26 October 1999, emergency intervention sub-units were established within all County Police Inspectorates in the country. They are divided into groups which, apart from emergency interventions, patrol round the clock and implicitly dissuade potential perpetrators. The IPJ Buzau sub-unit was established on 5 November 1999. Unfortunately, the Buzau Military Prosecutor’s Office has already received four complaints against the brutal behavior of this sub-unit.

2. The case concerning Silviu Laurentiu Rosioru

Silviu Laurentiu Rosioru, aged 33, manager of a small enterprise, had never had any trouble with the police – not even a fine – until the night of 25/26 January 2000 when he went to a pub called "America 2000" situated on the Buzau-Ploiesti route, about 10 kilometers from Buzau. A woman friend accompanied him. The two sat in a cubicle on the first floor of the bar. A group of 6-7 police officers from the emergency intervention unit were drinking coffee and beer, with their masks off. These police officers wear masks to "protect their identity", according to the IPJ officials, and this particular group had been assigned to guard the oil duct near Buzau against thieves.

The police officer stood up to leave when Rosioru and his friend entered. Rosioru made a joke, asking: "what are these terrorists doing here?" The joke was going to have very serious consequences. The police officers turned round, broke the cubicle door, threw Rosioru on the ground, handcuffed him, kicked and hit him savagely with their nightsticks. They closed the folding door to the bar, saying that "no one should interfere because they were in mission". Rosioru and his friend made it to the ground floor and tried to escape, getting in the cab that had brought them there and was waiting for them. There followed a skirmish between the cab driver and the police officers, who pulled Rosioru out of the car into a van. Strangely enough, the van was stationed in front of the pub for another half-hour, with the engine on. The victim believes that in the meantime the police officers put pressure on the personnel of the pub and on the few clients in order to determine them to support their version in order to exculpate them.

Rosioru was driven to the police station, being beaten all the time. At the police station, he was drafted a police report, being fined lei 200,000 on the basis of Law 61/91 art. 2, for having "insulted the pub personnel" and for "refusing to provide personal information" (police report series Z no. 4243507 of 26 January 2000). The alleged "insults" or "obscene words" uttered at the police officers are not mentioned, and neither is the fact that he had allegedly "kicked" them. Still, both these types of "outrage" are mentioned in the press release issued by IGP on 1 February, in response to the intense press coverage of this case. The police report also mentions that he had "admitted to his deed" and was signed, but the victim denied that the signature was his. Actually, the APADOR-CH representatives saw Rosioru’s signature and agreed that it did not resemble the scrawl on the police report. This problem could be easily cleared up – and it probably will be in court – by comparing Rosioru’s signature on the official documents of his company with that on the police report.

Around 4:30-5 a.m., Rosioru was taken out of the police station and abandoned in the street, although it was obvious that he could not walk by himself because of his injuries. Eventually, the police officers called a cab that took him directly to the surgical department of the county hospital, where he was admitted and diagnosed with "chest and abdominal injuries. Extensive bruising on the left thigh and buttock. Head and face injuries. Contusions on both hands" (release file issued on 28 January 2000 on the basis of medical file no. 172). At his family’s request, Rosioru was released from hospital on 28 January, being referred to the Fundeni hospital from Bucharest. The Fundeni hospital sent him to the Emergency Hospital, where he was committed until 1 February. His diagnosis was similar with the one from Buzau ("Signs of aggression. Multiple contusions. Chest and abdominal contusion. Massive bruise on the left thigh and buttock" – release file issued on 1 February on the basis of medical file no. 2818). Rosioru was released upon request, as the hospital could not help in his physical recovery. When APADOR-CH visited him, he was still in bed, at home, as he had not recovered from the physical and mental shock he had gone through.

Silviu Laurentiu Rosioru’s wife lodged complaints to the Buzau Military Prosecutor’s Office (no. 151/P/2000 of 28 January) and by mail (on 31 January) to the Prosecutor’s Office with the Supreme Court of Justice. Besides the medical certificates issued by the two hospitals and the one he is going to obtain from the Forensic Institute, Rosioru also has very relevant color pictures taken shortly after the attack.

It should also be mentioned that, as far as the victim knows, the friend who accompanied him at the pub that night and who witnessed the whole event – including the ride to the police station – is subjected to pressure and threatened to be charged with prostitution if she refuses to give statements consistent with the police officers’.

3. The case concerning Constantin Vrabie

On 9 December 1999, around 3:30 p.m., Constantin Vrabie, aged 31, who lives in Candesti, municipality of Vernesti, county of Buzau, was driving his car, accompanied by his two daughters and another family. He stopped on the road that surrounds Buzau, at the crossroads with Transilvania St. because one of his daughters needed to go to the toilet. While they were waiting for the girl, several police officers from the emergency intervention sub-unit asked them to identify themselves. Vrabie showed them his passport, which dissatisfied them. They took all the persons in the car – the little girls included – to the Buzau police station. Constantin Vrabie was fined lei 600,000 on the basis of Law 61/91 (police report series Z no. 0272026) because he "had refused to show his identity card or to provide information regarding his identity; he misbehaved during the leading to the police station, uttering insults and vulgar expressions". Constantin Vrabie did not admit to this deed and challenged the fine in court. However, he did not complain to the Military Prosecutor’s Office against the police conduct, considering that they had made an error and that the insults they had addressed to him ("cheeky bastard", "you took your girls with you to protect you", etc.) were not worth the time and energy necessary to lodge a complaint.

On 8 January 2000, around 10:30 p.m., Constantin Vrabie went to the Niscov disco accompanied by three friends to buy beer. Once they got there, they decided to have a beer, dance a little and then return home. Constantin Vrabie was stopped during the first dance by three persons in plainclothes, led to a van, thrown to the floor and beaten. Another young man – Valentin Barbu – was also taken to the van and beaten. Out of the 8 police officers in the van, only 3 were wearing uniforms. Vrabie and Barbu were beaten all the way to the Buzau police station (probably the headquarter of IPJ). Although they were not told why they had been driven to the police station, they were asked to give statements. From time to time, they were punched in the heads as an "incentive" to write the statements. Constantin Vrabie was fined lei 200,000 on the basis of Law 61/91 (for "insults"), Barbu was simply "admonished". The friends who had come after the two to the Buzau police station took Constantin Vrabie to the county hospital. The medical certificate issued by the Forensic Laboratory on 10 January 2000 mentions the following: "massive eye bruise with central open wound and contusion; massive bruises on the lower lip and in the occipital area; massive headache…" "needs 12-14 days of treatment under medical care since the occurrence, unless other complications arise". Almost one month after the event, the marks left around the eye and on the lip were still obvious. He complained to the Military Prosecutor’s Office (probable number 155/P/2000) and challenged the lei 200,000 fine. Valentin Barbu was mentioned as a witness, but he will also lodge a complaint regarding the treatment he had undergone.

Conclusions:

- APADOR-CH does not deny the need to establish emergency intervention sub-units, but believes that these groups should be used only in extraordinary circumstances, involving serious threats - which would justify the use of a mask – rather than in case of minor offences. The association believes that the police officers who work in such sub-units must undergo special physical, psychological and behavioral training – in particular the high ranking officers from such sub-units, so as be prevented from exceeding the competencies provided by the IGP order;

- The persons who witnessed the attacks perpetrated by police officers with the emergency intervention sub-units told APADOR-CH that they feel insecure, because they can become victims of such violent reactions at any time. One could easily infer that the intention underlying the IGP order for the establishment of these sub-units – namely, to protect the population against serious crimes – is about to fail, at least in Buzau;

- APADOR-CH wishes to draw IGP’s attention to the fact that Law 105/1996 on population records does not provide for the citizens’ obligation to have their identity cards on them and does not sanction the failure to carry it. The chief inspector of IPJ Buzau declared that no one is deprived of liberty merely for the failure to carry an identity document. Still, both Silviu Laurentiu Rosioru and Constantin Vrabie were deprived of liberty and fined for this "crime". If the Buzau police used in these cases the – unconstitutional – provisions of art. 16 letter b of the Law on police no. 26/1994, they should at least have taken in consideration the joint conditions provided explicitly by this article: the person "led" to the police station does not have identity papers and is suspected of "jeopardizing public life, the lives of persons or other social values". Neither Rosioru nor Vrabie posed any threat to the values mentioned above. APADOR-CH considers that both cases presented before are abuses committed by police officers with the Buzau emergency intervention sub-unit;

- The police reports on the basis of which the two were fined appear to have been drafted only to "justify" the brutal intervention of police officers. The situation is even more serious in the case concerning Rosioru, because of the suspicion that the signature on the police report might not be his;

- The medical certificates issued to the two victims prove the imbalance between the reaction of the police officers with the emergency intervention sub-unit and the accusations against the two ("insults" uttered at the pub personnel in Rosioru’s case and "stopping on the road’ and "dancing in a disco" in Vrabie’s case);

- The APADOR-CH representatives point out that the Buzau police officers are very "sensitive" and use their fists and night sticks at the slightest "insult" (see Vrabie’s case, because, in Rosioru’s case, only IGP Bucharest hold information regarding his uncivilized behavior);

- APADOR-CH urges military prosecutors to conduct fair investigations in the two cases. The association hopes that the high number of witnesses (especially in Vrabie’s case), the color photographs and the medical documents represent strong evidence that the perpetrators must be prosecuted;

- APADOR-CH also wishes to mention that, according to the local newspapers, Captain Mircea Tudorel, coordinator of the Buzau emergency intervention sub-unit, has been repeatedly accused of violence and even sanctioned;

- When the APADOR-CH representatives tried to find out to the opinion of the IPJ Buzau officials with regard to the two incidents described above, they were told: "we are waiting for the result of the investigation conducted by the Military Prosecutor’s Office".

Manuela Stefanescu
Valerian Stan