Liderii mai multor organizatii ale romanilor din Statele Unite, preoti, administratori de grupuri pe Facebook, reprezentanti ai presei de limba romana, precum si alti romani-americani i-au trimis sambata o scrisoare vicepresedintelui american Joe Biden in care ii cer sa discute cu presedintele Klaus Iohannis, aflat in vizita oficiala in SUA, despre modul in care Statele Unite pot ajuta concret la intarirea statului de drept in Romania, in special in directia protejarii independentei justitiei, transperantei guvernarii si sustinerii libertatii presei, informeaza Coalitia Romanilor.
"O democratie functionala, cu un stat de drept consolidat, necesita o justitie puternica care sa actioneze independent de orice presiune din exterior, indiferent ca ar veni de la politicieni, oameni de afaceri sau servicii secrete. Legea trebuie aplicata respectand demnitatea umana si urmand regulile si procedurile in toate situatiile", arata semnatarii in scrisoare.
"Nu in ultimul rand, procesul judiciar necesita transparenta si responsabilitate, deoarece nici procurorii sau judecatorii nu sunt deasupra legii. Lupta pentru consolidarea statului de drept nu se termina niciodata, necesitand o monitorizare continua, cetateni angajati si o presa libera", au continuat acestia.
"Acolo unde se intrunesc aceste conditii tarile sunt in siguranta, cetatenii prospera, iar economiile se dezvolta", se spune in scrisoare.
"Din moment ce statul de drept este o componenta a parteneriatului strategic, va rugam sa abordati in discutia cu presedintele Iohannis pasi concreti pe care Statele Unite ii pot face pentru a sprijini procesul de a asigura si proteja independenta sistemului judiciar, o guvernare transparenta si o presa libera in Romania", i-au cerut romanii-americani lui Joe Biden.
Initiatorii ii invita pe "toti cei care doresc o justitie independenta in Romania sa sustina aceasta scrisoare cu o semnatura electronica si sa-i invite si pe altii sa o sustina sau sa-i dea share pe Facebook. Cu cat numarul de semnaturi este mai mare, cu atat semnalul pentru vicepresedintele Joe Biden va fi mai puternic." Organizatiile care doresc sa cosemneze scrisoarea sunt inviatte sa scrie pe adresa info@coalitiaromanilor.org.
Mai multe asociatii i-au transmis o scrisoare si presedintelui Iohannis vineri, cand acesta si-a inceput vizita in State, cerandu-i sa condamne "presiunile" vicepremierul Gabriel Oprea asupra presei.
"In urma presiunile exercitate asupra presei de vicepremierul pentru securitate nationala si ministru de interne, domnul general Gabriel Oprea, de a nu se publica stiri despre plagiatul acestuia, reprezentanti ai comunitatii romano-americane i-au adresat o scrisoare deschisa Presedintelui Klaus Iohannis, cu ocazia vizitei acestuia in Statele Unite, in care i-au cerut sa apere public independenta si libertatea presei, potrivit site-ului coalitiaromanilor.org.
"Faptul ca un ministru care are legaturi si cu serviciile secrete se foloseste de puterea pe care o are nu doar pentru a opri stiri negative despre dansul din presa, dar si sa incalce dreptul romanilor la corecta informare prin faptul ca institutii ale statului nu fac publice informatii de interes public, creeaza un precedent periculos pentru democratia din Romania pe care il vom aduce la cunostinta oficialilor americani", a spus Chris Terhes, presedintele Romanian Community Coalition, cunoscuta in Romania si sub numele de "Coalitia romanilor pentru combaterea coruptiei", citat de acest site.
Redam in cele ce urmeaza textul scrisorii trimise vicepresedintelui american:
"26 September 2015
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Vice President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Vice President Biden,
We would like to thank you on behalf of the Romanian-American community for meeting with the new Romanian President Klaus Iohannis during his first official visit to the United States, since he was elected in November of 2014.
Our community is a bridge between Romania and the United States and we are reaffirming our commitment to help strengthening the relationship between the two partner and ally countries.
The two countries are already undergoing a very strong partnership at the military level and we thank the American administration for placing the U.S. missile defense system in Romania and for increasing the number of U.S. troops there.
One area of this strategic partnership that still has room for improvement in Romania is the rule of law. As you and President Iohannis discussed after his election, the rule of law is of critical importance for both the economic growth and the national security.
A healthy rule of law democracy requires a strong judiciary that acts independently of any influence from outside, regardless if it is from politicians, businessmen or intelligence agencies. The enforcement of the law must be done respecting human dignity and the due process in all the cases.
Nonetheless, the judicial process requires transparency as well as accountability, because even the prosecutors and the judges are not above the law. The struggle to ensure a genuine state of rule of law is never ending, and requires constant vigilance, an engaged citizenry and free media.
Where these conditions exist, countries are secure, citizens thrive and economies flourish.
Since the rule of law is a key component of the strategic partnership, please discuss with President Iohannis concrete steps on how the United States can support the process to ensure and safeguard the independence of the judiciary, transparent governance and a free media in Romania.
We take this opportunity to congratulate the White House for nominating Hans Klemm as the new US Ambassador to Romania. He is already doing an outstanding job and his expertise in the rule of law will be a great asset to help solidification the democracy in Romania.
We are looking forward to working closer with the American administration in building a stronger relationship between Romania and the United States that will help both of our nations prosper and stay safe.
Respectfully,
Organizations
Chris Terhes ￢ Romanian Community Coalition
Marian Petruta ￢ North Americam Romanian Press Association
Gina Dobbs ￢ Romanian Greek-Catholic Association
Neculai Popa ￢ Romanian-American Council
Ady Simion ￢ President, ￢Romani in Los Angeles￢
Simona Botezan ￢ "Miorita USA" Cultural Association, Sacramento, California
Marius Marin ￢ President, Romanian Cultural Center Oregon SUA
Mass Media
Viorel Nicula ￢ Director ￢Miorita￢ USA Newspaper, Sacramento, California
Dwight Luchian ￢ Patton ￢ Director Clipa Magazine, Anaheim, California
Vera Luchian ￢ Patton ￢ Editor Clipa Magazine
Lucian Oprea ￢ Publisher, Gandacul de Colorado Newspaper
Ioan Ciorba ￢ Director, Romanian Times Newspaper, Portland, OR
Mircea Visan ￢ Radio Ro Michigan
Ioan Ciorba ￢ Director Romanian Times Newspaper, Portland, Oregon
Grigore Culian ￢ Director New York Magazin, New York
Raul Dudnic ￢ Romanii TV Canada
Strajeri Stefan ￢ Curentul International
Marius Marin ￢ Director, "Mesagerul Romanesc" Portland Oregon
Groups on Facebook and websites
Adrian Bogdan ￢ Grup "Romani in USA ￢ East Coast"
Daniel Suciu ￢ Grup "Comunitatea romanilor din Los Angeles"
Marius Grunstain ￢ Grup "Romani in California"
Ciprian Caprar ￢ Romani la Los Angeles
Religious leaders
Fr. Calin Tamiian ￢ "St. John the Evangelist" Mission, Oxnard, California
Fr. Dr. Petru Stinea ￢ Greek-Catholic community, Cleveland, Ohio
Fr. Radu Titotean ￢ Greek-Catholic community, New York
Fr. Gabriel Didita ￢ Newburgh, Indiana
Fr. Michael Kirila ￢ Mesa, Arizona
Fr. Cristian Laslo ￢ "Sf. Maria" Greek-Catholic Church, Deaborn, Michigan
Others from US
Prof. Univ. Muscutariu, Ioan ￢ Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. Cristina Barba ￢ Tustin, California
George Mioc - businessman, Texas
Other from Romania
Claudia Postelnicescu - attorney
Alexandru Gabor - political analyst"
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