Romanian prosecutors issue charges against pro-Russia candidate in annulled election

Romanian prosecutors have charged Călin Georgescu, the far-right candidate in the country’s annulled presidential election, with six crimes relating to his campaign.

Georgescu is not named in the Prosecutor General’s statement, but local media reports and videos identify him and show him emerging from the Prosecutor's Office, where he appears to deliver what is recognizable as a fascist salute to the crowd.

The charges followed five hours of questioning and included false declarations regarding his campaign finances, and establishing a fascist and antisemitic organization.

It follows Romania’s constitutional court last December making the unprecedented move of annulling the first round of the country’s presidential election after the declassification of intelligence showing Russian interference influenced the result.

Despite being largely unknown before the election itself, Georgescu — who continues to poll as the country’s favorite candidate, although it is unclear whether he will be permitted to run again — romped to an unlikely victory in the first round.

Intelligence documents declassified and released by the outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, assessed that Georgescu's victory was down to a widespread state-sponsored interference on his behalf.

He was charged on Wednesday evening after prosecutors had carried out 47 searches in the morning connected to an investigation into that interference. They said the searches targeted 27 individuals and four premises connected to crimes including actions against the constitutional order.

Georgescu reportedly consented to police searches of his home on Thursday morning. He has been placed under judicial control and is prohibited from leaving the country without permission, and from posting extremist content on social media.

The decision to re-run the entire election process has been criticized by opposition parties in Romania who complained it was an attempt by the incumbent major parties to hold on to power, as those incumbents failed to make the runoff themselves.

Georgescu described the investigation as the Prosecutor's Office “looking to invent evidence to justify stealing the election and to do anything in their efforts to block a new candidacy from me.”