Zoltán Soós assessed it as a politically motivated case.

The district court of Marosvásárhely amended the regulations of the official supervision in the case of the independent mayor of Marosvásárhely, Zoltán Soós, who is suspected by the anti-corruption prosecutor's office (DNA) of accepting a bribe, according to the order published on the website of the Romanian courts on Tuesday.

The judgment panel partially upheld the appeals of both the suspects - Zoltán Soós and businessman Sala Petrica - and the DNA, and stipulated that the suspects may not contact the 14 (only initials) witnesses of the case in any way.

On the other hand, it canceled the provision of the Maros county court acting in the first instance, according to which the suspects could only have left the territory of Romania with a judge's permission. The other regulations of the official supervision remain in force. The decision is final.

On December 10, the Maros County Court ordered Zoltán Soós to be supervised by authorities for sixty days.

According to DNA's statement, between 2021 and 2024, the mayor accepted 1,009,764 lei (83.4 million forints) worth of works of art from a businessman in exchange for the town hall concluding public procurement contracts with the person's company and paying on time.

According to DNA, the city hall concluded a contract with the company of the businessman, who is also a suspect in the case, for the maintenance of public spaces and the sewer system, as well as the construction of infrastructure investments.

According to the prosecutor's office, on November 25, 2022, Zoltán Soós, through an association controlled by him, accepted an additional 30,000 lei bribe, paid in the form of a sponsorship contract, from one of the businessman's businesses,

as compensation for the fact that the mayor's office signed a procurement contract with the company in question worth 275,355 lei on nine occasions.

Last week, the prosecutor's office detained the mayor for 24 hours and took the mayor to the court in handcuffs, requesting his preliminary arrest. However, the court only ordered official supervision, during which the mayor can perform his duties, but he must report to the police if summoned and report if he changes his address.

Zoltán Soós evaluated it as follows: it is a politically motivated matter. "There must have been a lot of pressure on the judges, because if they fully approve our appeal, it will turn out to be a political dossier," Maszol quoted the mayor as saying.

Zoltán Soós added that when, in his opinion, he and businessman Sala Petrica were detained in a completely illegal manner, the prosecutors tried to extract a confession,

with which they wanted to prove that he had accepted a bribe.

The businessman rejected the accusations and stated: he will not say anything that is not true, he will not contribute to the dragging of an innocent person, said the mayor.

Kelemen Hunor, the president of the Romanian Hungarian Democratic Union (RMDSZ), in his speech to the Council of Union Representatives on Friday, called it unacceptable that the Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor escorted the mayor of Marosvásárhely, who was suspected of corruption, to the court in handcuffs, and expressed his conviction that the leader is innocent.

MTI

Cover photo: Mayor Zoltán Soós
Source: MTI/Gábor Kiss