At the end of last year, the public was shocked to hear of a shocking case of pedophilia and child pornography. It concerns a German national, Timur Ömür, known as Oliver, aged 43, who is under investigation for sexually abusing 36 underage girls in Romania, whom he recruited directly or through intermediaries. Eight of the sexually abused victims were as young as 13, and eight others were 14. The youngest victim was only 12 years old.
Equally scandalous was the information that the suspect, who initially admitted his crimes, was released from pre-trial detention in March 2022 because prosecutors completed the indictment too late. Moreover, details of the investigation revealed that over the course of a year, during the course of the prosecution, the child molester had abused 12 minors and had entered and left Romania 8 times.
One wonders at what level of incompetence and criminal indifference the Romanian state authorities have allowed an individual to molest children and, after his arrest, set him free? How can a parent feel safe in Romania?
The Foundation for the Defense of the Citizen Against State Abuses (FACIAS) is launching a civic campaign to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The first step is to establish the irregularities and, implicitly, those responsible:
Irregularities:
- The offender assaulted children in full view of the authorities while being monitored. From the first monitoring until his arrest, the German citizen entered and left Romania 8 times and sexually abused 12 children.
- Due to a procedural error, the rapist is free, even though the judges said that "if he is left at large, there is always a risk that he will commit new crimes".
- The prosecutors delayed the completion and referral of the offender to trial, ignoring the provisions of the criminal procedure code which state that the indictment and the case file "shall be submitted to the preliminary chamber judge at least 5 days before the expiry of the defendant's pre-trial detention."
- The last extension of the pre-trial detention expired on 28 March 2022, and the DIICOT prosecutors completed the indictment and referred it to the court on 25 March, too late, as the judge could not extend the pre-trial detention.
- The authorities did not take into account that 36 children were involved, 8 of the sexually abused victims were only 13 years old and 8 others were 14 years old. The youngest victim was only 12.
- According to press reports, there is no psychological assessment report on the victims among the evidence in the case file, which would have given a different legal classification and shown the seriousness of the facts if it had been done.
Those responsible: the DIICOT prosecutor, his superiors who had knowledge of the investigation and any other institutions that actively participated in the investigation.
Irregularity:
- Although 36 minors are involved, none of the child protection authorities intervened in this case. They should have been informed by the investigating authorities, i.e. the public prosecutor, as they had no way of knowing about the case, as the prosecution was secret.
Irregularity:
- According to the code of criminal procedure, a file stays 60 days in the preliminary chamber. The file in which he is being prosecuted is from 25.03.2022 in the preliminary chamber and is still pending. Even in the presence of a recommendation deadline and not an imperative one, the 11 months in which the judiciary has not rushed to resolve a case with a particularly dangerous offender still free, shows the extent of abuse and incompetence.
FACIAS believes that the irregularities presented are only the tip of the iceberg and that, as we develop this case, further details will come to light about the chain of incompetence that led to this serious situation.
For this reason, we invite the general public to support FACIAS's work. Only together can we prevent such tragic developments.