Bucharest, Dec 7 (AFP/APP): Romanian police raided houses on Saturday, a day after the top court cancelled the presidential vote in an unprecedented development following allegations of Russian interference in favour of the far-right frontrunner.
The court’s shock move, just before the presidential run-off, opens the way for a new electoral process to start from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine.
A new government — to be formed after last weekend’s legislative elections that were won by the ruling Social Democrats but saw big far-right gains — will set a new presidential election date.
The annulment comes after a spate of intelligence documents declassified this week by the presidency detailed allegations against far-right presidential frontrunner Calin Georgescu and Russia, including “massive” social media promotion and cyberattacks.
Police searched three houses in Brasov city in central Romania on Saturday as part of the investigation “in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery,” said a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
It said the swoop targeted a person involved in the “illegal financing of the electoral campaign of a candidate for the presidency of Romania, through the use of sums of money,” without naming Georgescu.
The prosecutor’s office would not name the person at the heart of the operation either.
The investigations also concern the violation of the law on the prohibition of organisations and symbols of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature, the statement added.
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