The editorial office Rise Project denounces the pressures coming from the DIICOT prosecutors and the efforts they make to compel investigative journalists to disclose information from their journalistic research.
Rise has published a series of investigations under the title „The Migrant Business„ about the businesses behind labor force imports. „We have discovered victims, phantom companies, businessmen, and former employees from the Ministry of Internal Affairs structures involved in this multi-million euro industry.
The RISE documentation overlapped with the investigation of the DIICOT prosecutors from Caraș-Severin.
Recently, the DIICOT prosecutors requested the interrogation of one of the authors of the investigative series," Rise announces.
At the end of the interrogation, Chief Prosecutor Carmen Vrânceanu issued an ordinance requesting the RISE team to provide the Prosecutor's Office with all the data that formed the basis of the journalistic investigations.
"The same magistrate insisted that it is not a request, but an order, and if RISE does not comply, searches can be conducted," adds the quoted source.
"Source protection, journalists' independence, and freedom of expression are principles that underpin a democratic society and are protected by national and international legislation.
The RISE team will not yield to pressures from certain magistrates to disclose confidential information and documents that could endanger the safety and security of sources," writes the Rise Project team on Facebook.
During the investigations, RISE revealed that Tivadar Sorin Gabriel, one of those investigated for migrant trafficking, is related to Ștefan Negrilă, the head of the Brigade for Combating Organized Crime (BCCO) Timișoara, a unit that supports DIICOT investigations.
"During the research, we conducted an interview with a former MAI officer, Dan Vasile, involved in recruiting and bringing Asian workers to Romania, later accused by DIICOT prosecutors of being the leader of the network. Vasile was a partner with Tivadar, the relative of the BCCO chief, and now the two share the same file, although they are in an open conflict," adds RISE.