- 9 June, 2025
- Foreign Policy
In the first round of the presidential election held in Romania on November 24 last year, Calin Georgescu (Romanian: Călin Georgescu), known for his far-right views, won with 22.95% of votes. On December 6, the Constitutional Court canceled the election results, citing allegations of Russian interference and undeclared campaign financing. On February 26, 2025, Romanian authorities arrested him on charges of “inciting acts against the constitutional order.” On March 9, the Central Election Bureau banned him from participating in the 2025 presidential elections. Moreover, the ECtHR refused to examine his complaint against the cancellation of the 2024 election results.
Thus, Calin Georgescu was charged with several offenses under the Romanian Criminal Code and related legislation. In particular, the criminal case initiated by the Prosecutor General’s Office included the following charges:
- Incitement to actions against the constitutional order
Article 397(2) of the Romanian Criminal Code (in conjunction with Articles 47 (definition of incitement) and 32 (attempt)), which provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
- Illegal campaign financing, false declarations regarding campaign financing and assets)
Under Article 326(1) of the Romanian Criminal Code (in conjunction with Article 35(1) (continuous, complex criminal offenses)), he is accused of making false statements regarding the sources of his campaign financing and asset declarations, which provides for a sentence of up to 2 years in prison.
- Dissemination of false information undermining national security
Article 404 of the Romanian Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
- Establishing or supporting a fascist, racist, or xenophobic organization
Article 3(1) of Government emergency ordinance (GEO) No. 31/2002 (the ordinance prohibits the establishment of organizations of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature, as well as the dissemination of such ideologies and symbols), which provides for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
- Promotion of the cult of individuals guilty of genocide and war crimes
Article 5 of Emergency Ordinance 31/2002 (the decision also criminalizes the cult of persons found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes), which provides for a sentence of up to 5 years in prison.
- Establishing or supporting an antisemitic organization, incitement to hatred or discrimination
Article 6(1) of Law 157/2018, which provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and Article 369 of the Romanian Criminal Code, which provides for a sentence of up to 3 years in prison.
Following these charges, Georgescu was placed under 60-day judicial custody, during which he was prohibited from leaving the country, publishing content of a fascist, anti-Semitic, racist, or xenophobic nature on social media, and from carrying firearms. He has denied all the accusations, describing the legal actions brought against him as political persecution and an attempt to suppress his candidacy.
Leaving aside the extent to which the above-mentioned accusations against Georgescu are substantiated, we will discuss which of the aforementioned crimes the RA criminal legislation regulates.
| False statements
Article 326 of the Romanian Criminal Code (a mandatory ground is to submit the statement to an official in order for it to have legal consequences) |
Although the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia does not contain such a body of crime, in terms of content, regulations on the falsification of certain types of information, documents and materials contain provisions that are somewhat similar to it, such as Article 444 (submitting false information in a declaration by a person who is obliged to submit a declaration, concealing data subject to declaration or not submitting a declaration as defined by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia), Article 479 (falsifying, changing, destroying or concealing evidence, explanations (…) or presenting false evidence), regulations on the falsification of documents and information related to elections, etc.) |
| Incitement to violence, hatred, or discrimination
Article 369 of the Romanian Criminal Code
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Public speech aimed at inciting or promoting hatred, discrimination, intolerance or hostility, as well as distributing materials or objects for that purpose
Article 329 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
Public calls for violence, public justification or advocacy of violence, as well as the distribution of materials or objects for this purpose Article 330 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
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| Incitement to actions against the constitutional order
Article 397 of the Romanian Criminal Code
|
Usurpation of power
Article 419 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
Overthrowing the constitutional order Article 420 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
Public calls for seizure of power, violation of territorial integrity, renunciation of sovereignty, or the violent overthrow of the constitutional order Article 422 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
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| Dissemination of false information undermining national security
Article 404 of the Romanian Criminal Code |
The Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia does not contain such a body of crime. |
| Establishing or supporting a fascist, racist, or xenophobic organization
31/2002 Emergency Ordinance, Article 3(1)
|
Although the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia does not contain such a body of crime, in terms of content, these actions can be considered to be somewhat covered by the combination of Article 318 (establishing or leading a criminal organization) or Article 319 (participating in a criminal organization), and Article 329 (public speech aimed at inciting or advocating hatred, discrimination, intolerance or hostility, as well as distributing materials or objects for this purpose) and/or Article 330 (public calls for violence, publicly justifying or advocating violence, as well as distributing materials or objects for this purpose). |
| Establishing or supporting an antisemitic organization, incitement to hatred or discrimination
Article 6 of Law 157/2018
|
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| Promotion of the cult of individuals guilty of genocide and war crimes
31/2002 Emergency Ordinance, Article 5
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The Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia does not contain an equivalent body of crime, but in limited cases, depending on the facts of the case, Article 136 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (publicly denying, justifying, calling for genocide or crimes against humanity or undermining their danger) may be considered a similar regulation.
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Note that according to the electoral legislation of the Republic of Armenia, even if we attempt to dispute the election results on the grounds of undeclared funding or foreign interference, we must in any case prove their direct influence on the final results, which is almost impossible. This means that if the Romanian scenario is repeated in the Republic of Armenia, we will be much more defenseless. Meanwhile, in Romania, although no direct influence on the outcome of the election was ever proven, the combination of gathered evidence was considered sufficient to invalidate the results and restrict Georgescu from running for office in the future.
Thus, we can conclude that, in the event of a repetition of the Romanian scenario here, the gaps in the criminal and electoral legislation of the Republic of Armenia will allow politicians with foreign influence and dubious funding not only to avoid liability, but also to receive a primary mandate and occupy the highest state position.
Ruzanna Avagimyan
Union of Informed Citizens
