Lawyer starts #securistchallenge on social media

August 23 is a landmark in Romanian history, celebrated as a “national day” during communism. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the last day of August 23, celebrated during Communism.

Taking advantage of this day with a special symbolism in the history of Romania, the lawyer Păun Alexandru from the Bucharest Bar launched the challenge of #securistchallenge on Facebook, urging his colleagues from the Bucharest Bar to declare that they have no connection with Ceaușescu’s Securitatea, the political police during the communist regime. ”Securist” is a Romanian word which means ”a member of the Securitatea” or ”a collaborator of Securitatea”.

“It all started with the lawyer Corneliu-Liviu Popescu. It was his idea, he came out first with such a statement. It is a gesture of courage, a gesture that inspires all those who hold or who want to apply for a leadership position within the Bucharest Bar to do the same. However, because I noticed that this initiative is not popular enough, I felt that a direct challenge was needed, to clarify the issue of suspicions of belonging to the former Security among lawyers. That’s why I launched today #securistchallenge on Facebook and I challenged the the Bar Association dean, Mr. Ion Dragne, to accept the challenge and to take it further. I look forward to the reaction of the other members of the Bucharest Bar”, the lawyer Alexandru Păun declared exclusively to Valahia News. Also, Alexandru Păun also challenged Dean Ion Dragne to respond to his initiative.

The lawyer Păun Alexandru also announced on his Facebook page that he has completed an official declaration stating: “I have never been a member of any Romanian or foreign secret service, nor a member of the personnel that performs the activity covered within the state bodies with attributions in the field of national security or of the internal ministerial information structures, undercover cop, undercover investigator, as a worker within the judicial police or the state bodies that carry out information activities, collaborator with a different identity than the real one of the criminal investigation bodies, informer of the criminal investigation bodies or informer of the police.”