Rise Project 
One of the authors of the series of investigations about migrant trafficking networks in the West of the country was called as a witness at the headquarters of the Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Caraș-Severin Territorial Office.
Following the discussion, the chief prosecutor, Carmen Vrânceanu, handed the reporter a subpoena requesting “the handover by the independent community of journalists RIJE (n.r. RISE) PROJECT of the data in its possession or under its control, which were the basis of the journalistic materials entitled The “Migrant” Affair (I, II and III)“.
The investigations published by us last month under the title “The Migrant Business” reveal how thousands of Asian citizens end up on the streets in Romania, abandoned by the recruitment firms that brought them here and decide to flee to other European countries through migrant trafficking networks . For several months, RISE investigated the business behind the labor imports, which overlapped with the DIICOT Caraș-Severin prosecutors’ investigation.
During our investigations, we also identified a ghost company, which supplied multinationals with Asian workers, but we also revealed that Tivadar Sorin Gabriel, one of those investigated for migrant trafficking, is related to Ștefan Negrilă, the head of the Organized Crime Brigade (BCCO ) Timișoara, unit that supports DIICOT investigations. During the documentation, I conducted an interview with a former MAI officer, Dan Vasile, involved in the recruitment and bringing of Asian workers to Romania, then accused by DIICOT prosecutors of being the leader of the network. Vasile was a partner with Tivadar, a relative of the head of the BCCO, and now the two share the same file, although they are in open conflict.
Read RISE investigations here
The RISE reporter was summoned to the DIICOT headquarters in Reșita with an official summons, but was informed that this was just a meeting. So, during the meeting, the journalist was informed that he would be cited at a later date. At the end of the discussion, the chief prosecutor handed the reporter an Ordinance requesting RISE Project to make available and hand over to the prosecutors all the documents that were the basis of the investigations, with the mention that it is not a request, but a provision, and if the RISE Project does not comply, prosecutors may lead with searches.
Chief Prosecutor Carmen Vrânceanu also wanted to know if the series of articles on migrant trafficking has ended or if RISE is preparing other investigations, after which she explained that she made the subpoena as a result of the fact that the former MAI officer (defendant in the DIICOT file) invoked in his defense RISE Project investigations. The same prosecutor also showed interest in the context in which we ended up documenting the subject of the “Migrant” Affair, but also in the victims of our investigations.
During the meeting with the RISE reporter, the prosecutor also brought up the fact that the articles refer to the family relationship between one of the defendants in the DIICOT case and Ștefan Negrilă, head of the Timișoara Organized Crime Brigade. A BCCO officer, present at the discussions, intervened and gave assurances that the reporter’s citation would not have anything to do with the mention of the name of the head of BCCO Timișoara in the materials published by RISE.
On the day we were notified of the ordinance, we sent requests for information to the leadership of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, but also to DIICOT, the headquarters, in order to obtain a point of view about the abusive action of the chief prosecutor from Reșița to obtain the documents and sources of RISE journalists. I denounced the slippage in which the request signed by the chief prosecutor of the Caraș-Severin Territorial Office is entered.
The protection of documents and information used in the documentation process is the foundation of the protection of our sources, a right guaranteed by law.
The General Prosecutor’s Office informed us that it has requested DIICOT to carry out an audit to verify the legality of the ordinance and that “media freedom is a mandatory condition of a democratic society, and the protection of journalistic sources is an indisputable right of journalists“.
Until the publication of this article, the management DIICOT did no react to our request.
UPDATE 1
DIICOT ordered the denial of the ordinance of the Caraș-Severin Territorial Bureau, by which prosecutor Carmen Vrânceanu requested that all the documentation that was the basis of the series of investigations published by RISE – The “Migrant” Affair – to be handed over to the prosecutors.
In an official statement the Territorial Office of DIICOT Caraș-Severin told RISE that the classification decision was motivated by the fact that the first ordinance did not meet the “form conditions provided by art. 286 paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (…) in the sense that the object, document or computer data that must be handed over, as well as the date and place where they must be handed over, were not described“.
In other words, the denial of the first ordinance is based on a procedural flaw, not a violation of national and international laws that protect the independence of journalists and the protection of sources.
UPDATE 2
The central DIICOT management reacted to the press request and explained that the institution “carries out its activity in accordance with the principles of legality, impartiality and hierarchical control, recognizing the crucial importance of press freedom“
RISE will remain dedicated to independent investigative journalism done in the public interest.
RISE Project
 | The series of investigations – The “Migrant” Affair – was carried out with the support of Journalismfund.eu. |
Bianca Albu 
Carla Lunguți, Cristian Lupșa 
Rise Project 
