More Hearings In Sorina’s Case, The Girl Adopted By A Family In The U.S. Romanian PG Challenges The Adoption Decision, Foster Parents Write Open Letter To Licu
The control bodies of the National Authority for Protection of Child Rights and Adoption and of the National Agency for Social Inspection are conducting more hearings in the case of Sorina, the 8-year-old orphan girl from Baia de Arama, Mehedinti, adopted by a Romanian-born family living in the U.S.
At the same time, Romanian Prosecutor General Bogdan Licu has sent an ordinance to Mehedinti Tribunal asking to enforce the ban on the girl’s departure from Romania and another ordinance to the Craiova Court of Appeal, asking it to review the ruling that approved the international adoption of the little girl.
Just a day ago, PG Licu said that he would ask the court room to compel the U.S. foster parents of the 8yo girl from Mehedinti, Sorina, that she is getting psychological counselling, also stressing that he cannot ban the girl from leaving Romania.
“Prosecutor General Bogdan Licu has filed a request to the Mehedinti Tribunal, asking to enforce the ban on the girl’s departure from Romania until the law of evidence is solved in the criminal records under way at the Prosecutor’s Office upon Craiova Court of Appeal and at the Special department for investigating magistrates. Through this action the PG has also required the foster parents to provide psychological counselling for the girl, in Romania, for 3 months”, reads a press release by the General Prosecutor’s Office.
In a separate complaint filed on Craiova Court of Appeal, the PG has asked for a review of the civil ruling pronounced by Craiova Court of Appeal on April 23 that Okayed that Sorina can be adopted by the Romanian-born family from the U.S.
However, Sorina’s foster parents has asked PG Bogdan Licu to relocate the trial of his ordinance away from Craiova area, for fear they will be lynched and to avoid “a monstrous scandal at the Mehedinti Tribunal”.
“Considering the daily demonstrations in front of all public institutions and taking into account that a similar action is imminent in front of the Mehedinti Tribunal, we respectfully ask you to decide on the relocation of this case to another tribunal, far away from Baia de Arama-Craiova area, according to article 140, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which says that the trial can be tried in another location if there are exceptional circumstances that might lead to public nuisance,” reads Săcărin family’s open letter to PG Bogdan Licu.
Yet, the Mehedinti Tribunal decided to send the case to the court in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, which has to decide if Sorina can be taken out of Romania.
Explanations on the take over
Meanwhile, the Directorate for Child Protection Dolj has made new statements on the girl’s take over from the foster carers last Friday, arguing that it was the case prosecutor “who established the way of action, meaning the prosecutor has personally gone on the scene to take over the child”.
The Directorate was requested to provide the presence of a psychologist and of a social worker on June 21, to give psychological counselling to a minor, but it claims no further details were given to social workers (about the location, the case, or the case history). However, the the Directorate for Child Protection Dolj designated a psychologist and a social worker who attended Sorina’s takeover on Friday.
As for the prosecutors who handled the case, the head of the Prosecutor’s Office upon the Craiova Court of Appeal has explained that the prosecutor who took over the girl wanted to take her to the Forensic Medicine Institute to conduct more checks, as there is an ongoing mistreatment file in Sorina’s case (meaning the foster carers are currently under scrutiny for neglecting the girl, for applying mistreatement to her and for withdrawing her from school).
The chief prosecutor from Craiova, Tena Tulitu, said the case prosecutor Maria Piturca has observed the procedure during the intervention when the girl had been taken from the house where she raised, mentioning the girl was illegally held by the foster carers in Baia de Arama.
Chief prosecutor Tulitu also pointed out that the mass media has released just a part of the footage where the girl was opposing the takeover, but the official video footage reveals the whole intervention, that confirmed the prosecutor tried to talk to the girl and all legal steps had been taken.
Sorina’s foster father: Ex-Labour minister Olguta Vasilescu knew the case, personally intervened
Moreover, Sorina’s foster father from the U.S. said the entire story went crazy and that his family and lawyers are getting death threats for several days from the people who are convinced the girl had been adopted to have her organs taken.
The foster father also said that the Romania authorities’ stance is also surprising, for they doubt a final court ruling and the adoption procedure that has been difficult from the beginning.
On the other hand, the man claims that former Labour minister Olguta Vasilescu knew this case and would have personally intervened upon the Mehedinti County Council during her minister term to be sure that the adoption procedure was following the legal steps and will go on by the law.