Corruption in Romania
[(AMB baby huilt)
From the day they are born, Rumanians are faced with minor corruption. Of course, in this case it’s the parents, since they have to lend a helping hand, financially, to the poorly paid doctors and nurses to ensure a pregnancy or delivery is carried out in the best possible circumstances. In fact, the same goes for the other medical services, although officially they’re free of charge.
¤A0 ¶Violeta Ene, aanstaande moeder (Roemeens)
OT's_____________________max.!
They no longer mention it,
you know what’s expected.
That’s the way it is here.
I can afford it, but I wonder
how the poor manage...?
(muziek)
And when the Rumanian child grows up, he or she realises that there are a great number of services requiring an “under the counter” approach.
For instance, in the public services. If you want to avoid any problems, the best thing to do is to keep the civil servant happy.
¤A1 ¶Mihai Zamfirescu, belastingbetaler (Frans)
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You always have to pay something
to arrive at what you want.
Even if you want
to buy an apartment.
There’s always a lot of paperwork
involved.
It’s a lot more difficult if you’re
starting your own business.
(muziek)
And should our Rumanian become a football fan, then he’ll come across the shady world of crooked transfers, tax evasion and money laundering. Of course, now we’re not talking about minor corruption any more.
The likeable manager of Steaua Bucharest has to account for what appears to be questionable land purchases. Judging by the size of his home, he wouldn’t appear to be short of a dollar or two.
And this is where the biggest problem lies, the Rumanian parliament. The majority of the politicians are in one way or another corrupt says the NGO, Transparency International, that keeps a close watch on corruption.
¤A2 ¶Victor Alistar, Transparency International (Engels)
OT's_____________________max.!
Corruptie vinden we bij
álle politieke partijen in Roemenië.
Ik denk niet dat er één of twee
'zuivere' partijen zijn,
terwijl de anderen corrupt zijn,
zo is het niet.
Someone who knows all about this is Monica Macovei. She became minister of justice at the end of 2004, and very quickly became known as a fervent opponent of corruption. However, a year ago Macovei was dismissed. She had refused to go along with the Rumanian politicians’ attempts to tone down anti-corruption legislation.
¤A3 ¶Monica Macovei, voormalig minister justitie (Engels)
OT's_____________________max.!
Wij wilden de corruptie bestrijden,
in een land met corrupte politici,
want het gaat hier om
politieke corruptie.
De politici hebben alle macht
in handen om de wet te wijzigen,
zij nemen eender
welke maatregelen,
en ze gebruiken dat om
tegen jou te vechten.
As justice minister, Macovei appointed a young, dynamic prosecutor as head of DNA, a government agency responsible for investigating high-level corruption. Contrary to what was previously common practice, the prosecutor really did take his job seriously. In no time at all, charges were brought against eight members of parliament. However, the politicians struck back.
¤A4 ¶Daniel Morar, procureur DNA (Roemeens)
OT's_____________________max.!
During the last three years
that I was a prosecutor,
parliament made several attempts
to do something about
the work being done in our
anti-corruption department, DNA,
so that we couldn’t prosecute
members of parliament.
The situation only worsened following the dismissal of the minister of justice.
¤A5 ¶Monica Macovei, voormalig minister justitie (Engels)
OT's_____________________max.!
Ze wilden af van die kordate
anti-corruptieprocureurs,
en ze hebben dat ook geprobeerd
nadat ik was ontslagen,
maar er was een reactie
van de media, van het publiek,
en ook van de Europese Commissie,
dus moesten ze ophouden.
¤A6 ¶Beeld: TVR, Roemeense televisie
But the DNA corruption team weren’t to be sidetracked. One high-placed politician after another was summoned to their office to answer to a range of charges in corruption cases.
Even the former prime minister, Nastase, was questioned. This man, who lives in a huge house with an equally sumptuous interior, was suspected of being involved in a number of fraudulent financial transactions.
Another spectacular case of political corruption is that of the former minister of agriculture, Remes. He was filmed last autumn apparently receiving money in exchange for preferential treatment for a public contract.
A second hidden camera recording of the man who had handed over the money to the minister clearly shows that it is corruption. However, he’s extremely cautious.
(SOM) (Roemeens)
OT's_____________________max.!
When I gave 'it' to him…
- The envelope with the money?
Ssshh! Someone may be listening.
When I gave it to him…
Did you tell him that it
contained 15,000 Euros?
Yes, but don’t mention the money.
- Okay, I won’t any more.
Don’t mention the 15,000 ! I didn’t
say anything to him, I wrote to him.
But he knew about the money?
- Of course, Ghitsa.
When part of the footage was shown on the News on Rumanian public television, the minister resigned. However, politicians put pressure on the station’s management not to broadcast any further footage. A move that so angered the programme’s editor that she came to the studio to explain what had happened to the viewers.
¤A7 ¶Rodica Culcer, hoofdredactrice TVR (Roemeens)
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I apologize because we cannot
keep our promise.
This is an internal memo from
the station’s management...
The memo stated that no further part of the corruption footage could be televised. And it didn’t stop there: the programme editor was simply moved to the sideline, with nothing to do.
¤A8 ¶Rodica Culcer, hoofdredactrice TVR (Frans)
OT's_____________________max.!
After what happened
they reorganized out department,
and deprived me of all
my editorial powers.
But I think I did the right thing,
and I don’t regret it.
Following the scandal with the minister of agriculture, the politicians once again targeted the anti-corruption department by restricting their legal resources.
¤A9 ¶Monica Macovei, voormalig minister justitie (Engels)
OT's_____________________max.!
Het parlement besliste meteen
om de wetgeving aan te passen,
zodat het niet langer
mogelijk zou zijn
dat politici zouden
kunnen worden gepakt.
Op die manier vechten ze terug.
In spite of all they’ve been through, those fighting corruption in Rumania remain confident that their efforts will bear fruit.
¤A10 ¶Daniel Morar, procureur DNA (Roemeens)
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I think that the mentality
can change.
The change is already visible.
Our department has the support
of a slice of the general public,
society,
and of a part of the press.
People want to see convictions
in these corruption trials
if there’s sufficient evidence.
Above all a lot is expected from Europe, a Europe of which Romania has now been a member for more than a year.
¤A11 ¶Rodica Culcer, hoofdredactrice TVR (Frans)
OT's_____________________max.!
Europe has always urged
Rumania’s leaders
to implement
the necessary reforms.
Our leaders never did anything
unless Europe pushed them.
I hope that Europe will also
play a positive role
in the problem of the fight
against corruption.
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SABAMGEGEVENS
Titel gebruikte werk: Chinatown & Drive to the Field (uit 'Michael Clayton')
auteur/componist: James Newton Howard
gebruikte duur: VSD-6850
referentie CD: 4'30"
Credits
Production company
VRT