Court: Charges Brought Against Former Minister In Belina Isle Case Are Eligible

The Bucharest Court decided on Monday that the charges and evidence brought forth against former Regional Development Minister Sevil Shhaideh in the Belina Island case were legal and that the trial could begin, in a first decision.

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The court ruled that all prosecution procedures to indict the former minister were in accordance wth legal provisions. The decision can be appealed, however, which might lead to further delays.

National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors decided in June 2018 to charge former Regional Development Minister Sevil Shhaideh and others with abuse of office for transferring ownership of the Danube Island Belina from state management to the administration of the Teleroman County Council, which later ceded it to controversial local infrastructure company TelDrum.

Specifically, the former minister is accused of initiating and drafting a government decree regarding the transfer in late 2013, while she was serving as secretary of state within the Regional Development Ministry.

According to DNA prosecutors, the act was illegal as the island and an adjacent distributary – the Danube’s Pavel Branch, which was also included in the transfer – were both part of state’s public domain through effect of the law and the Constitution, and as such could be transferred into local domain only through parliamentary law.

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