Singapore Wants Fmr Romanian Envoy Investigated Under Romanian Law

Singapore's Foreign Ministry issued a release Thursday in response to media queries on the Romanian Ministry of Justice statement of April 9 on the issue of diplomatic immunity.

"It is clear from the findings of the Coroner's Inquiry that the acts for which Ionescu has been charged were not pursuant to his official functions. Ionescu was using the Embassy vehicle in his private capacity and for his private purposes. As such, with effect from Ionescu's recall, he no longer enjoys diplomatic immunity for the acts in question," the ministry said in its release, citing Article 39.2 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

According to the Vienna Convention regarding diplomatic relations, a diplomat enjoys immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state, which does not exempt the respective diplomat from the jurisdiction of the sending state.

Romania cannot extradite Ionescu to stand trial in Singapore, where a Coroner's Court found he was driving an embassy car and hit three pedestrians, killing one, because the two countries don't have an extradition treaty.

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