On November 24, our colleague Simona Voicescu, had a telephone intervention during the morning show on Realitatea TV related to the situation of victims of domestic violence in Romania during the pandemic and the need to implement the electronic monitoring system of aggressors.

In the studio was present Mr. Christian Ciocan, representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who stated on this occasion that he does not agree with the electronic monitoring of the aggressors, both as an employee of the ministry and as a trade unionist, considering electronic monitoring a expensive solution, which is not 100% guaranteed and which, moreover, Mr. Ciocan wanted to specify, violates the human rights, in this case, of the aggressors.

In this regard, on November 25 a.c., the Necuvinte Association sent a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs requesting answers to the following questions:

• Was the participation of Mr. Christian Ciocan in the show on Realitatea TV as a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
• If he participated as an individual, in his own name: are Mr Ciocan’s statements imputable in any way?
• If he participated as an official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where is he employed, are these statements also assumed by the ministry?

Last but not least, the Necuvinte Association sent a request to organize a public debate on the protection of victims of domestic violence.

“The attitude of Mr. Christian Ciocan is a surprising one, he representing an institution that has the responsibility to apply the legal provisions in the field and we are convinced that he knows both the provisions of the Criminal Code and criminal procedure, but also the provisions of law no. 217/2003 on prevention and combating domestic violence, all three providing for the obligation of the Romanian state to monitor by electronic devices certain categories of persons, including domestic aggressors.

In a year when the number of domestic violence cases has increased, especially the number of life-threatening crimes in the family, we call for a public debate with the participation of civil society experts. We consider that the participation of Mr. Ciocan is opportune in this debate, who will be able to explain and argue on this occasion his position.

This year continues to be extremely difficult for victims of domestic violence, lacking a system for monitoring protection orders, specialized structures within the County Police Inspectorates and service centers in each county, so you please take our request very seriously. “- Simona Voicescu, Executive Director, Necuvinte Association

The Ministry of Internal Affairs answered our petition reiterating the idea that those declarations do not reflect the position of the ministry towards electronic monitoring of domestic aggressors.

More details about the minstry’s answer in the Romanian version of our website.