Romania on Thursday indicted on corruption charges Laura Codruta Kövesi, a candidate to be the first-ever EU public prosecutor, meaning she cannot travel abroad, according to media reports.
Romania’s government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, has actively lobbied against Kövesi, who was the country’s high-profile anti-corruption chief until she was fired last year.
Kövesi said the indictment is “a measure intended to silence me, to harass all of us in the judicial system who did our job.”
She told reporters she has been banned from publicly speaking about the specifics of the case, adding: “Probably some people are in such despair that I might get this job [of chief EU prosecutor], that I’m not allowed to speak to the media anymore.”
Leaders of the European Parliament earlier this month backed Kövesi as their top pick to be the EU chief prosecutor, while EU member governments in a vote last month chose French candidate Jean-François Bohnert for the post.