The punishment received by Vlad Pascu for giving an interview from prison. Today, a new term is being judged, possibly the last one before the verdict

Vlad Pascu, the young man who drove drunk and drugged, and killed two students with his car, was punished for giving an interview from behind bars.

By the Observator editorial team on 09.05.2024, 08:46

The management of the Poarta Albă Penitentiary forbade him to be visited by his parents. His father was an intermediary for the dialogue with the protester Ceausescu, the one whom his father had hit with his scooter and had a criminal record. In the interview, Vlad Pascu victimized himself. He insinuated that journalists ruined his image.

A new term in the case of Vlad Pascu, the author of the accident on May 2, as a result of which two young people lost their lives, is scheduled for Thursday at the Mangalia Court, where several people will be heard, including the parents of the victims. It is possible that this is the last term before the pronouncement.

A new term in Vlad Pascu’s file

At the Mangalia Court, a new term will be held on Thursday, from 10:00 a.m., in the case in which Vlad Pascu is on trial for the accident last summer, as a result of which two young people lost their lives. At this term, the parents of the deceased young people could be heard, as well as a witness. Also, the Romanian Foundation for the Assistance of Accident Victims could be introduced in this case.

At the previous deadline (April 18), the court postponed the case following a request submitted by the lawyers of the victims’ families. Also, at that time, judge Ioana Ancuța Popoviciu also formulated a request to abstain, which was rejected by the Mangalia Court.

Two weeks ago, the Superior Council of the Magistracy decided that it is not necessary to suspend judge Ioana Ancuța Popoviciu until the completion of the disciplinary procedures, as requested by the Judicial Inspection. The judicial inspectors assessed that the continued exercise of the function by the judge could affect the impartial conduct of the disciplinary procedures and would be likely to seriously damage the prestige of the judiciary.

Also, the lawyers of the families of the victims of the May 2 accident requested a few weeks ago the recusal of judge Ioana Ancuţa Popoviciu, and their request was rejected. At the same time, the prosecutors of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Mangalia Court requested the Constanţa Court of Appeal to relocate the file, but this request was also rejected.

The first term in Vlad Pascu’s trial took place on February 22, at 9:00 a.m., at the Mangalia Court. The file was postponed until 12:30 p.m. because Pascu also had a deadline at the Constanța Court, in order to avoid preventive detention, but that request was rejected.

When the trial resumed, the judge in the file found that Vlad Pascu had no defense because one of the lawyers withdrew from the file, and the other mentioned that he was protesting, being in solidarity with the action initiated by the Bucharest Bar and requested that the next deadline be granted after 29 February.

The judge ordered the next term to take place on March 14 and issued an address to the Constanța Bar Association, in order to appoint an ex officio defender for Vlad Pascu, for the entire duration of the trial.

The parents of the victims of the accident caused by Vlad Pascu were dissatisfied with the attitude she had in the courtroom. Thus, they told the journalists that when she entered the hall she would have been chewing gum. Later, the judge asked for the bulletin of the young man who died in the road accident that she did not know had died.

The second court term took place on March 14. The father of the young woman killed in the accident caused by Vlad Pascu expressed his displeasure because Vlad Pascu was not brought to that deadline. The father of the young man killed in the accident went to the courtroom with his son’s photo and despite all this, the judge asked him who he was.

At the next court term, on April 4, the Mangalia Court rejected the request to change the legal classification to qualified murder.

The film of the May 2 tragedy

On August 19, 2023, Vlad Pascu drove a car on DN 39, and around 5:25 a.m., near May 2, he entered a group of pedestrians. As a result of the impact, two young people lost their lives and three others were injured.

Vlad Pascu fled the scene of the accident and was later found by the police in Vama Veche. The investigators determined that he was under the influence of several prohibited substances, including cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Vlad Pascu was sent to court, in October, for culpable homicide, culpable bodily injury, leaving the scene of the accident and driving a vehicle under the influence of psychoactive substances.