Romania’s president won’t fire anti-graft prosecutor

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania’s president says he won’t fire the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor, the latest development in a dispute over corruption that has led to street protests.

President Klaus Iohannis said Monday he would not remove Laura Codruta Kovesi, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s chief prosecutor, because Justice Minister Tudorel Toader hadn’t convinced him she should be fired.

In February, Tudorel said Kovesi should be fired in what was widely viewed as a politically-motivated attack, since the anti-corruption agency has targeted senior members of the ruling Social Democratic Party.

Tudorel claims Kovesi has displayed an “excessively authoritarian attitude” by personally supervising prosecutors investigating a decree that would have decriminalized official misconduct. The decree sparked weeks of anti-graft protests.

The Supreme Council of Magistrates, however, says she should not be fired.