The Romanian ultranationalist politician was picked up by police for questioning earlier on Wednesday regarding false funding sources and false information in his last campaign.
Prosecutors in Romania have opened criminal proceedings against ultranationalist politician and 2024 presidential election candidate Călin Georgescu on six counts, including anticonstitutional acts and misreporting his finances, authorities said on Wednesday.
The charges also revolve around his support for sympathisers of the Iron Guard, a pre-World War II fascist and antisemitic movement and political party, which is illegal under Romanian law.
Georgescu, known as “The TikTok Messiah,” has also been barred from leaving the country and is not allowed to create new social media accounts on top of the ones he already owns, according to Euronews Romania sources.
The authorities have stopped short of arresting him, however.
Contrary to Georgescu’s team’s claims, sources at the Electoral Commission told Euronews Romania that the candidate registration process has not opened yet.
Supporters of the far-right Party of Young People (POT), which splintered from another far-right party, AUR, and is among Georgescu’s most vocal backers, announced they would protest in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Some 200 people have gathered since.
“The judiciary has the duty to present extremely solid proof to the public (…) so that this criminal investigation is not hijacked into an election manifesto by a certain candidate,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a statement.
“The judiciary is independent and the law must be applied regardless of the persons involved, respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens,” Ciolacu added.
