On June 22, 2015, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis promulgated an unconstitutional law which is both historically unfair and immoral. He reinstated censorship—in violation of the rights to the freedom of expression and association—under the false pretext of prohibiting the negation of the Holocaust and prohibiting the xenophobia, racism, and anti-Semitism (in connection to which a law has already been in force since 2002).
This new law, No. 217/2015, acknowledges the political court decisions ruled by the communist regime between 1945–1964 and forbids the public promotion of the Legionary Movement (which has never been convicted by any Romanian or international court) as well as of any people who have been a part of such movement. Any members of the anti-communist resistance are now deemed offenders by the Romanian state and the law requires that they should be removed from the public domain by pulling down their commemorative statues and commemorative plaques.
Basically, the Romanians are no longer allowed to honor their heroes, to perform religious masses before their monuments, or to honor their work. As the wording of this law is ambiguous and no rules for its implementation have been issued yet we fear that serious abuses may ensue. Any person may be accused of fascism or legionarism after writing a text on this topic, after participating in a religious commemorative mass dedicated to such people, or after offering a book for reading to a friend.
The law continues to generate intense debates in Romanian society and many are against it, including renowned cultural personalities from Romania.
Please treat as confidential the sender of this message, as it contains opinions that might be incriminating due to the ambiguities of this law which fails to stipulate clearly the meaning of the phrase “promotion of legionary views,” though freedom of opinion should be inalienable as it is enshrined in the Romanian Constitution.
Thank you and kind regards.
