THE TIMBER MAFIA Dezideriu Garda: "All the cases covered up by Izabella Majeczki should be reopened"

Illegal logging is one of the crimes which are the hardest to stamp out in Romania. Between 1990-2011 366,000 hectares forest were cleared, both on the forest districts of the state, as well on private properties, according to the investigation of the Court of Accounts. There are however unofficial claims that the surface would be much greater.

According to the reports in the press, over the last few years "the timber mafia" has been aided by politicians, local authorities, and law enforcement employees.

One such example is prosecutor Majeczki Izabella, of the Prosecutors' Office of the County Court of Gheorgheni, which according to sources in the press, was one of the people who abetted certain individuals suspected of illegal logging in the county of Harghita.

According to a press release of the National Anticorruption Department (DNA), Majeczki Izabella is being charged by the prosecutors of the DNA with acts of corruption, accepting bribes and inciting to committing forgery. "The prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Department are investigating a criminal case concerning acts of corruption which involve a prosecutor who is a member of the Prosecutors' Office attached to the Court of Appeal of Braşov. The prosecutor will be tried for accepting bribes and abetting forgery in private deeds", the press release of the National Anti-Corruption Department states.

Dezideriu Garda, the only member of the Chamber of Deputies against whom criminal prosecution was begun, because he spoke out against the timber mafia, considers that all of the criminal cases concerning the illegal logging which have been swept under the rug by Izabella Majeczki should be reopened by the competent institutions, such as the Supreme Council of Magistrates or the High Court of Cassation and Justice. "The timber mafia will only truly be shaken if the political supporters of first-prosecutor Izabella Majeczki are caught and punished and if the authorities of the state will have the courage to review all the rulings by which Mrs. Majeczki helped all those who committed illegal logging offenses over time", said Dezideriu Garda.

The claims of former deputy Dezideriu Garda are also confirmed by Pal Emeric, one of the most ardent fighters against illegal logging, who, over time, received threats and who escaped a murder attempt three years ago, after he made some revelations on the subject. He said that even though it's been three years after the attempted murder, the perpetrators are still free.

Pal Emeric told us that the arrest of Izabellei Majeczki, the first prosecutor of the Prosecutors' Office of the Gheorgheni Court, is the first sign that the fight against those who over time have helped those who have cut down thousands of hectares of forest by breaking the law or bending it, is beginning to bear fruit.

The illegal deforestations have also attracted the attention of environmental organizations, as well as of the international press. Several publications in Germany or Great Britain have recently published reports and articles, which show the disastrous state of Romania's forests.

Pal Emeric (who presented to the National Anti-corruption Department a document over 700 pages long containing details on this subject) thinks that the involvement of the international press had a positive effect, sparking the fight against the criminals who perform illegal logging, at a high level, which is why the competent authorities in Romania have begun taking the necessary steps to fight this phenomenon. "The DNA (National Anticorruption Department and the competent authorities have begun doing their job, and very saucy details will start surfacing soon. We are talking about connections to people in very high places, where important people employed in the structures of the state are involved, such as members of the Police of Gheorgheni or the members of DNA Târgu Mureş, who covered up cases or who have postponed their resolution until the offenses reached the end of the status of limitations", Pal Emeric further said.

One of the gravest issues which goes "hand in hand" with the plundering of the forests is that of the stealing of the funds intended for reforestation, says Pal Emeric, which told us that, in the case of the composessorate of Joseni, the money which should have been used to plant new trees, ended up serving private interests. According to his statement, following its audits the Environmental Audit Squad of Arad has notified the competent institutions that not even one sapling was planted in the perimeters for which money was allocated for that purpose. The result of the notification of the Environmental Squad concerning this matter was the bringing of a lawsuit drafting of a criminal case.

In Joseni approximately 500 hectares of forest have disappeared, according to the statements of Pal Emeric.

He also talked to us about the cases in Topliţa, where illegal logging is "booming", as the perpetrators are aided by the local authorities.

The plundering of the forests in Topliţa a was recently discussed by Hans Hedrich, through the Neuer Weg Association, which has drafted a report which presents revelations concerning the timber mafia of the Topliţa region.

According to the report in question, Mircea Duşa, the current minister of Defense, (originating from Topliţa) and the head of the County Police Inspectorate of Harghita, Radu-Sandu Moldovan, have protected the perpetrators of illegal logging over time. The Neuer Weg Association also writes, in the report, that policemen, judges, rangers, mayors, civil servants and businesspeople participated in the activities which concern illegal logging are.

The investigation conducted by Hans Hedrich and the Neuer Weg Association also claims that many rangers and employees of the authorities have illegally taken ownership of land and forests that they were not entitled to.

• 5 billion Euros, the loss caused by illegal deforestations

The losses caused by the illegal deforestations has officially reached 5 billion Euros, according to a report by the Court of Audits, while the unofficial losses are twice that amount.

Between 1990-2011 366,000 hectares of forests were cleared, in the state owned forest districts, as well as in the private ones, according to the investigation of the Court of Accounts. Environmental NGO Greenpeace claims that in Romania, 3 hectares of forest get cut every hour.

• The effects of deforestation

According to the Department for Water, Forests and Fish-Farming, the most frequently encountered effects of illegal logging are landslides, floods, the exacerbation of extreme meteorological phenomena such as droughts and, first and foremost a decrease in the quality of life due to the reduction of the positive effect that the forest has on the Earth's atmosphere.