Constanța Ivan’s Worst Nightmare, 61 Years Old, Is for Her Daughter’s Killer to Escape Unpunished by Romanian Justice. A trial that has entered its sixth year is now being heard at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, and a final decision in this case is still unclear, even though in the first instance, the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
The progression of this trial is a new proof of corruption in the justice system, where politicians, criminal groups, and wealthy individuals manage to manipulate the course of justice, even in cases of murder, delay decisions, and influence penalties.
Some magistrates in Romania and court leaders do not only manipulate major corruption cases, as shown by Recorder journalists in a shocking documentary, but also cases of murder or serious acts of violence, endangering the lives of those seeking justice.
The death of Marina Cătălina Avram, 33 years old, and everything that followed represent a tragic and astonishing series of events, actions that suggest the state authorities' inability to react to family violence, the actions of criminal groups that control entire communities, and the corruption in the judiciary.
All these weaknesses of the Romanian state have emerged and are visible throughout a long and convoluted journey that has not ended, on which a mother still walks seeking justice and a punishment commensurate with the actions of the one who killed her daughter.
Spring Dies on Church Street
March 18, 2020, was a true spring day, with temperatures reaching up to 20 degrees and a clear sky, free of any clouds.
Church Street in Chiajna commune is wide and peaceful, with houses neatly lined up on both sides, not yet marred by huge constructions or blocks, as is so common in the outskirts of Bucharest.
Right on the street stands a church, St. George's, and the commune's cemetery. Here, at number 14, Marina Cătălina Avram lived for a while, alongside her partner, Nicolae Alexandru Iordan, 37 years old at the time.
The house is quite new, painted in white, with the corners of the construction adorned with ceramic tiles in shades of gray, and the roof made of quality silver sheet metal.
The imposing villa, with two decorative towers bordering on kitsch, is a place where one would not think a tragedy could have taken place, especially considering its proximity to a place of worship.
On Church Street in Chiajna, on March 18, 2020, the tranquility and silence that had enveloped the locality, the capital, and the entire country were due to the fact that the streets were deserted. People and cars had vanished as if by a planetary spell. Two days earlier, a state of emergency had been declared nationwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During those early spring days, the relationship that had lasted nearly two years between Marina and Alexandru had become toxic. The young woman lived in an apartment in Militari Residence, a huge real estate project with over 100 blocks and 25,000 residents.
At the beginning of 2018, the couple lived there. Later, when their relationship became official, they also lived in the villa on Church Street.
"...he beat her. The girls in the building, her neighbors where she rented, were afraid to tell me anything...", Constanța Ivan, Marina's mother, told Spotmedia.ro in an interview.
VIDEO. Constanța Ivan recounts, in an interview with Spotmedia.ro, about her daughter's relationship with Alexandru Iordan, a man known in the Chiajna commune for his violence - Source: Spotmedia.ro
A Scandalous Love Story
Marina Avram was tall, standing at 1.80 meters, slim, with rich black hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her large, black, and shiny eyes shone at night like a full moon. She was so beautiful that there was no way she wouldn't be noticed quickly when she appeared at a party or in a group of friends.
Alexandru Iordan noticed Marina in 2018 when she moved to Chiajna, alongside her mother, after her parents' divorce, with Constanța Ivan being born in the locality. The two came from Cățelu commune, the eastern part of Bucharest, with Chiajna being in the west.
Constanța Ivan, Marina's mother
And I told her: mother, this is not for you, please. It's not for you. It's not what you need. Because I knew he was choleric, that he was prone to arguments and quick to resort to violence. I knew he was like that... They hid the relationship for a while. She moved into a house he found for her, in Militari Residence. She moved in as a tenant. She wanted to live alone. In fact, she wasn't living alone, she was living with him. And slowly, during the winter, at the beginning of 2018, they started the relationship...
Alexandru Iordan, at that time, was married and had a daughter. Marina had also been in a longer relationship that had ended. She had not been married.
Clubs, Knives, Swords, Axes
Nicolae Alexandru was a special man. He was part of the Iordan family, which had created a political, business, and criminal pressure group that controlled Chiajna.
At the end of January 2020, a statement caused a stir in the Romanian press, being widely distributed on social media. Constantin Ofițeru, a local councilor in Chiajna commune, went public announcing that he had been attacked in a mafia-style after a meeting held at the town hall.
The violent event described above took place two months before Marina lost her life.
The Mayor of Chiajna referred to by the liberal councilor is Mircea Minea, also PNL, who has been leading the city for 31 years. He was sent to trial by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) in May 2023 for a damage of 10 million euros in the case of illegal public funding of the Concordia Chiajna football team.
For almost three years, the trial has been dragging on in the first instance, at the Ilfov Tribunal, with 12 court sessions held so far without entering the substance of the case.
Lia Savonea steps into the picture
In the commune of Chiajna, there also resides Judge Lia Savonea, the President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania, who has conducted real estate transactions both with Mayor Mircea Minea and members of the Iordan group.
"Lia Savonea bought a piece of land together with the relatives of Mayor Mircea Minea from Chiajna," as stated in an investigation conducted by Rise Project in March 2023.
"...the judge's husband built a block of flats on another piece of land, and in the real estate business, money was injected, one million euros, by the son of a magistrate convicted of corruption. Among the main beneficiaries of the real estate scheme was indeed the mayor's brother from Chiajna, the godfather of a mobster involved in electoral battles and real estate schemes in the same locality," as further detailed in the press investigation carried out by Rise Project.
When her relationship with Alexandru Nicolae Iordan began, Marina did not know the full labyrinth of interests, businesses, illegalities, and violence she was entering, but her mother, Mrs. Constanța Ivan, knew and was scared.
In the next article, you will find out how often and how badly Marina Avram was beaten by her violent partner, how she ended up in the hospital, and why the doctors were no longer able to save her life.