Romanian Government to Investigate
Librarian’s Detention
Romania’s Interior Minister Ioan Rus announced December 18 he would open an investigation into whether Bucharest police violated the rights of National Library Director Dan Erceanu when he was detained on a charge of criminal complicity. Rus promised to apologize publicly if Erceanu is proven innocent, the Romanian daily Ziua reported December 19, and said that the behavior of the police was “inappropriate for a state based on the modern principles of law.”
The parliamentary commission on culture condemned the incident, saying Erceanu was needlessly paraded in handcuffs in front of television cameras.
Erceanu, who is not allowed to leave Bucharest for 30 days, is accused of consenting to the sale of more than 300 copies of a Carolingian manuscript and defrauding the state of $1.5 million in revenue. However, he contends that the copies were made in 1993–1994, before he became director, by the Lorsch Museum in Germany, which then sold rights to the Belser company, a Zurich publisher of facsimiles.
Bucharest Mayor Traian Basescu alleged that Erceanu’s detention was politically motivated, the Associated Press reported December 19, because of his opposition to government plans to take over offices in the National Library.
Posted December 23, 2002.
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