Viorel Pașca and four members of his family escape any preventive measures in the illegal nursing homes case in Bihor. The Bucharest Court of Appeal definitively rejected the DIICOT’s request for preventive arrest and even revoked the judicial control measure previously ordered by the Bucharest Tribunal.
In the same decision, the court lifted the judicial control even in the case of Delia Mioara Păcală, who coordinated branches and civic organizations within the association.
The decision is final
The judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal rejected as unfounded the appeal by DIICOT prosecutors against the decision of the Bucharest Tribunal from July 2, which had rejected the preventive arrest.
At the same time, the court upheld the appeals filed by the defendants and removed the judicial control measure.
"Rejects as unfounded the appeal filed by DIICOT (...). Upholds the appeals filed by the appealing defendants (...). Rejects the proposal for preventive arrest (...). Removes the provision regarding the judicial control measure (...). Final," the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal states.
Why are they accused?
Viorel Pașca, his wife Florica Pașca, their three sons - Abel Timotei, Viorel Emanuel, and Daniel Sabin Pașca - as well as Delia Mioara Păcală are under investigation in the case.
The six were detained by DIICOT on July 1, and a day later, prosecutors requested their preventive arrest. However, the Bucharest Tribunal rejected the request and ordered judicial control. Both DIICOT and the defendants contested the decision.
The investigation involves accusations of forming a criminal organization, human trafficking in a continuous form, and complicity in human trafficking.
According to prosecutors, hundreds of vulnerable individuals were brought from hospitals and social assistance centers from several counties and accommodated in buildings in Holod, Ceica, Tinca, and Lăzăreni, in Bihor County, under the guise of providing social and medical services.
DIICOT claims that Viorel Pașca did not have the legal, organizational, and professional capacity to carry out such activities and that the beneficiaries, many of whom had mental disabilities, were in a highly vulnerable state.
What the first instance held
In justifying the decision to reject preventive arrest, Judge Andrada Albescu from the Bucharest Tribunal stated that the nursing homes operated without respecting the legal framework, but she appreciated that the accommodated individuals benefited from proper hygiene and accommodation conditions and were not in situations incompatible with human existence.
The magistrate emphasized that there were issues regarding treatment administration, lack of qualified staff, and non-compliance with standards in the field of social services, but she considered that these did not justify preventive arrest.
Furthermore, the judge pointed out that, according to the evidence provided up to that moment, deceased individuals were buried after fulfilling legal formalities, a fact that does not dispel suspicions regarding obtaining funeral benefits but also does not indicate abandoning beneficiaries after death.
What Viorel Pașca claims
At the last court hearing, Viorel Pașca denied the accusations and stated that the activity carried out over two decades had a humanitarian purpose.
"I am not ashamed of my 20-year activity, in which I tried to help. We tried to save their lives, and I am not exaggerating when I say that. I have a clear conscience, I never wanted to do harm," he stated.