Press release

15 September 2017

Following the latest requests from the media, the Romanian Intelligence Service would like to state the following:

The present stand comes as a consequence of the Service’s efforts to become more open to the public and the decision of the SRI leadership to stimulate transparency, and it is in no way meant to encourage a debate with those launching public accusations.

Regarding the “Binomial” and the “tactical field”

As regards the co-operation between SRI and DNA (the National Anticorruption Directorate), we would like to clearly state that SRI has no responsibility in monitoring criminal records. However, the Service has the legal obligation to inform the prosecution authorities with regard to the perpetration of crimes.

There are no situations in which SRI has monitored in an operational manner any criminal records pending in court, at any level.

On the other hand, SRI officers can only perform criminal investigations in certain situations strictly regulated by law, that is in the case of terrorism crimes and crimes against national security, but only under the supervision of the prosecutor.

Consequently, until the decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court of March 2016, the intelligence officers and prosecutors cooperated, but only with strict observance of the laws in force, within an official institutional framework.

When the trial begins, the Service has the obligation to present and submit to the court, upon request, any object or document which could be used as evidence, after making the necessary provisions for the state secret to be preserved.

Once more, we state the fact that there existed only one Protocol of co-operation with the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (PICCJ) which stipulated, as the object of co-operation, the activity of exploiting the intelligence in the field of preventing and countering crimes against national security and terrorism crimes, as well as other serious crimes, as defined by law.

The objectives of the cooperation were the exchange of relevant and useful information, as well as the fulfilment of the responsibilities PICCJ had in enforcing the technical surveillance mandates.

The cooperation between the Service and the judicial bodies meant that both parties fulfilled their legal obligation to offer each other the support necessary in performing their responsibilities provided by law, and it was not an interference with the independence of justice or of magistrates.

Regarding the prosecutors’ bill of indictment

SRI did not determine and cannot determine the way an inquiry or a criminal trial is finalized.

In the early stage of the criminal prosecution, as provided by law, SRI has the following obligations:

• to send reports regarding the perpetration of criminal offences;
• to offer specialized support, upon request from the prosecution authorities, by submitting forthwith any data and information it may hold regarding the perpetration of crimes.

Consequently, we would like to assure you that no bill of indictment has been written or drawn up by SRI officers.

Regarding the involvement of SRI in the arrests:

The Romanian Intelligence Service encourages any person who might have evidence or indications with regard to breaching of the legal framework during the investigation of criminal cases to forthwith submit those to the prosecution authorities. We assure you that the Romanian Intelligence Service is directly interested in ensuring the observance of the Constitution and of national laws, and will not tolerate any infringement.

Moreover, we have always shown willingness to support any endeavour which aims at enforcing the Law.

To support these affirmations we would like to emphasize the fact that there are multiple internal mechanisms in place for verifying and controlling the manner in which the SRI personnel perform their activities and missions.

The SRI leadership has enforced the principle of zero-tolerance for any abuse or breaching of the law or professional ethics.

Regarding undercover officers in the justice system, politics and the media

The operative personnel of the Romanian Intelligence Service perform their activity in an overt or covert manner, depending on the needs for national security. In its activity, the Service observes the constitutional principle stating that judges shall be independent and subject only to the law (Art. 124 (3) of the Constitution).

Thus, SRI strictly observes the legal regulations stating the interdictions and incompatibilities of the magistrate position with other public or private positions, as well as the interdiction of acting as operatives, undercover officers, informants or collaborators of the intelligence services.

The National Supreme Defence Council monitors, either ex-officio or when notified by the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) or the minister of Justice, the veracity of the statements the magistrates fill in each year.

We clearly state that there has been no case of breaching the law since the interdictions were enforced; therefore any other speculation is false!

As regards the likelihood that certain politicians would work as operatives for SRI, once more we have to firmly state the following:

SRI does not undertake any action to promote or damage the interests of any political party or any natural or legal person, except for those actions of the above mentioned which transgress national security.

The SRI personnel cannot become members of political parties or of other political or secret organizations and they cannot be used for political purposes (Art. 36, Law no.14/1992).

To conclude, SRI has abided by the law and had no undercover officers in the fields where the legal framework imposed such an interdiction.

As regards the media, the SRI representatives have publicly stated on numerous occasions that the intelligence service follows the same rules of the intelligence work as all the other partner services, using HUMINT, including covert sources, in all areas of interest for national security, with strict observance of the law.

Regarding the use of the terrorism mandates for other purposes

As regards the manner in which the surveillance mandates are enforced in the field of preventing and countering terrorism, we firmly state that no such information has ever been used by DNA.

The intelligence pool strictly connected to national security in the field of counterterrorism has only been used on two major strategic components, namely briefing the prosecuting authorities, especially DIICOT (the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism) and the legal beneficiaries qualified to take decisions regarding the status of foreign citizens on the Romanian territory, such as declaring them undesirable, banning them from entering the country, not granting them the Romanian visa, not granting/withdrawing the Romanian citizenship, not granting them with a certain form of protection in Romania.

Regarding the observance of the Constitution

SRI is an institution which is subject to parliamentary control, through a committee dedicated to its activity. We have answered promptly and exhaustively to any demands from this committee. Moreover, there have been cases in which the SRI leadership requested hearings with this parliamentary committee in order to clarify any uncertainties which appeared in the media. Furthermore, apart from the internal and the parliamentary control, the current leadership of the service has drawn up and approved a code of ethics which sets explicit norms and boundaries with regard to the professional deontology of the intelligence officer. At this particular time, the Ethics Code of Conduct has been taken on and implemented at all levels of the Romanian Intelligence Service.

Being loyal to its mission of protecting national security, the Romanian Intelligence Service assures all Romanian citizens that its only goal is to safeguard the interests of the Romanian People and to observe the Constitution and national laws.