Four Of Five Romanian Border Police Officer Murder Suspects Released

Four of the five youths suspected of taking part in the Friday night murder of a Romanian border police officer have been released, due to a lack of evidence connecting them to the crime, while an arrest warrant was issued for the suspect apprehended in Hungary.

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According to Timis Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Mihaela Pop, the four youths were questioned Saturday evening until 1.30 a.m. and then released because "there was no evidence to indicate they took part in the killing of the officer."

Pop also said that the fifth youth, Gheorghe Breazu, who is considered the main suspect in the case and was caught in Szeged, a city 45 km from the Romanian border, is still on Hungarian territory and will be brought to Romania in five days. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant in absentia and a European arrest warrant.

According to Timis Police, three of the four youths released are minors - one is 16, the others 17. The fourth is 19 years old.

Gheorghe Breazu, the main suspect, is 19 and has a criminal record. According to the website of the Court of Sannicolau Mare, in 2007 Breazu, then a minor, was convicted of robbery and released on probation early last year, before he turned 18.

Tiberiu Sarbu, an officer of the Romanian border police post in the western town of Sannicolau Mare was found dead Friday night outside a service station, possibly having been shot with his own weapon, investigators said. He had left his post in order to apprehend a group of car thieves.

The first four suspects were caught Saturday afternoon and taken to the Timis Court Prosecutor's Office for questioning. Hungarian authorities caught the fifth suspect, who had left Romania through the Cenad Customs Point, in Szeged later.

He was 38 years old, was married and had a child. He had worked in the Timis Border Police since 2001 and had been a gendarme previously. Christian Ciocan said the Timis County Police Inspectorate decided Saturday to promote Sarbu to the rank of deputy inspector.

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