LONDON—Alexander Adamescu, a German citizen who lives in London since 2012, is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued against him by the Romanian authorities for allegedly being an accomplice in the fraud case of his father, Dan Adamescu, who died in a hospital in Bucharest in January while serving a prison sentence of four years and four months for alleged corruption.
Despite his age (68) and his poor health, he had been in the coma in December – he was refused an early release or an alternative way of serving his sentence.”
Dan Adamescu was a successful businessman of Jewish origin who built a real estate in Romania from scratch out of the ashes of Nicolae Ceauscscu’s Communist regime. He was also the owner of Romania’s most venerable and widely respected pro-democracy and anti-corruption newspaper, Romania Libera.
His son, Alexander, who is a writer, vehemently denies the charges against him. Several media suspect the extradition request is politically motivated. On 24 August 2017, a Westminster Magistrates Court Judge decided that the extradition procedure must continue. The main extradition hearing is scheduled for 27 November 2017 despite the fact that Romania’s abuse of the European Warrant Arrest has been has been criticised by several instances. In March, the ICSID tribunal issued a decision recommending Romania to withdraw or suspend the EAW against Alexander Adamescu. The ICSID is the world’s leading institution devoted to international investment dispute settlement.
In an interview with European Jewish Press (EJP), Alexander Adamescu says he and his familly are persecuted by the Romanian authorities. ‘’I fear for my life.’’
‘’(Former) Prime Minister Victor Ponta has himself declared my father to be a corrupt newspaper owner in May 2014. 10 days later, he was arrested and paraded on TV in handcuffs. He was refused bail because he "denied the charges against him". He was convicted on the basis of one tainted witness and no other evidence. He was denied early release despite his heavy illness because his state of health was of no concern and he had not shown "moral rectification". He was withheld medication, abused by guards in prison and left to die in custody in January 2017. Even now, 9 months after his death, a Romanian Judge ruled that he will be tried for other criminal offences. There's a fixation by Romania on my father and the Adamescu family.’’
He said the ‘’persecution’’ was set in motion by Victor Ponta as a revenge for his failed impeachment on then-President Traian Basescu. ‘’My father was perceived by Ponta as one of Basescu's closest allies: publishing Basescu-supportive Romania Libera and financing Basescu's campaigns. It has been picked up by various entities and players with an aim to raid my father's life work and now, his estate.’’
He says Romania now ‘’continues exactly the same way with me.’’ ‘’My arrest warrant procedure was a judicial farce including forged documents produced by the court. The Romanian embassy organised my arrest before I was due to speak at a conference at the Frontline Club in London. My wife is being harassed by Romanian stooges in London who are surveiling her. She has been traumatised by an abduction attempt last year. If this is not state-sanctioned persecution I don't know what it is.’’
He believes he is a collateral victim of the ‘’anti-corruption mania’’ in Romania.
‘’The cloak of the anti-corruption fight has been used and is still being used to further personal goals by politicians, prosecutors and generals. The Adamescu case, i.e. the "consent to bribery of 20,000 Euro" has nothing to do with corruption and all with politics and money. Romania is implicitly admitting this by its behaviour: an ICSID tribunal has ordered Romania to withdraw the EAW against me until the ending of the ICSID proceedings. Romania has refused to comply and is breaching international law by doing so. ‘’If my case was just a regular criminal case, as Romania repeatedly pretends, why would it go to such lengths to secure my return and imprisonment?,’’ he asked.
Asked if he thinks that he Jewish origin of his father played a factor in this case, he responsed: ‘’Maybe. My father was vilified as a "Shrek with a Jewish mug".’’
He says Germany has willfully closed its eyes to the abuse that his father has endured. ‘’It is now willfully taking into account the destruction of the rest of the family. The German government is knowingly betraying its own citizens. I can throw my German passport into the fire. It is worthless.’’
‘’German politicians and media are looking the other way when it comes to abuses of power in Romania. The mirage of the anti-corruption fight justifies plunder and death. Everybody is corrupt, so goes the thinking in Germany, so the more end up dead or in prison the better,’’ he says.
He describes Romania today as ‘’Russia – but inside the EU.’’ ‘’A state that is being manipulated by a small nomenklatura. There's an almost entire lack of democratic understanding among politicians, a frightening lack of independence of the judiciary and an excess of power in the hands of politicians, generals of security services and prosecutors who play the corruption game to further their own agendas.’’
Alexander Adamescu has appealed his European Arrest Warrant to the EU court of human rights. ‘’I am waiting for the case to progress. I hope it won't be too late until that happens.’’