UPDATE: The Senate's Judicial Committee recommends the Parliament to dissolve Catalin Voicu's Parliamentary immunity

Marţi, 23 martie 2010, 12:47 English | Top News

Senator Catalin Voicu, who is involved in an anti-graft investigation and has self-suspended from the Social Democratic Party following the revelation of transcripts used in the inquiry, will be heard by fellow Senators starting with 2 p.m. on Tuesday . The senator is accused of traffic of influence and false in documents and anti-graft prosecutors have urged Justice minister Catalin Predoiu to request the Senate to approve Voicu's arrest.

According to the constitution, deputies and senators can be investigated and sent to court for deeds which are not related to the their votes and political opinions while in office, but cannot be subject of search warrants, retained or arrested without the approval of the respective parliamentary chamber. On Wednesday, senators will debate the anti-graft prosecutors' request to arrest Catalin Voicu.

UPDATE: The Senate's Judicial Committee decided, with 8 votes for and 3 against to approve the request of anti-graft prosecutors to arrest former PSD member Catalin Voicu. The Commission thus recommends the Parliament to decline the immunity of the Senator.