BUCHAREST: Romania´s Interior Minister Nicolae Moga resigned on Tuesday amid a wave of public revulsion over a murder case in which police failed to react in time to save a teenage girl.

The case has sparked an outcry against the authorities, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets of Bucharest on Saturday evening. "I took this decision to safeguard a part of the prestige of the ministry, which has been severely damaged by the faulty actions of some of its employees," said Moga of his resignation.

Moga is the third high-ranking official to quit over the case in the space of a week, following the departure of the chief of police, Ioan Buda, and the head of the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), Ionel Vasilca.

A suspect, 65-year-old Gheorghe Dinca, was arrested on Sunday in the southern town of Caracal.

He has admitted to kidnapping and killing the 15-year-old girl, Alexandra, but also another girl who disappeared in April called Luiza, according to his lawyer. Dinca´s lawyer also says prosecutors have suspicions that he might be responsible for more than the two crimes he has already confessed to.

Three other police chiefs in the region where Caracal is located have also been fired and eight officers are under investigation for alleged negligence in their handling of the case. On Thursday, Alexandra, who was abducted while hitch-hiking home, managed to ring the emergency 112 number three times and give police clues about the location where she was being held by her captor. </s> Romania's Interior Minister Nicolae Moga resigned on Tuesday amid a wave of public revulsion over a murder case in which police failed to react in time to save a teenage girl

Bucharest, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 30th Jul, 2019 ) :Romania's Interior Minister Nicolae Moga resigned on Tuesday amid a wave of public revulsion over a murder case in which police failed to react in time to save a teenage girl.

The case has sparked an outcry against the authorities, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets of Bucharest on Saturday evening.

"I took this decision to safeguard a part of the prestige of the ministry, which has been severely damaged by the faulty actions of some of its employees," said Moga of his resignation.

Moga is the third high-ranking official to quit over the case in the space of a week, following the departure of the chief of police, Ioan Buda, and the head of the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), Ionel Vasilca.

A suspect, 65-year-old Gheorghe Dinca, was arrested on Sunday in the southern town of Caracal.

He has admitted to kidnapping and killing the 15-year-old girl, Alexandra, but also another girl who disappeared in April called Luiza, according to his lawyer.

Dinca's lawyer also says prosecutors have suspicions that he might be responsible for more than the two crimes he has already confessed to.

Three other police chiefs in the region where Caracal is located have also been fired and eight officers are under investigation for alleged negligence in their handling of the case.

On Thursday, Alexandra, who was abducted while hitch-hiking home, managed to ring the emergency 112 number three times and give police clues about the location where she was being held by her captor.

She yelled "he's coming, he's coming" before the line was cut, police said.

Critics allege that officials failed to take the alert seriously and reacted too late to locate and help save the teen.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis denounced on Tuesday "a long chain of errors" in the case and demanded measures to ensure "such tragedies can be avoided". </s> Interior minister Nicolae Moga resigned on Tuesday, July 30, less than a week after taking over the job. This makes Moga the interior minister with the shortest mandate in the history of Romania’s Interior Ministry, according to local Mediafax.

His resignation comes amid a scandal sparked by the slow intervention of the police and other law enforcement authorities in the case targeting the kidnapping and murder of a young girl in the town of Caracal last week.

Nicolae Moga was appointed minister of interior on July 24 after the former minister Carmen Dan resigned. In his first statements as minister, Moga said that he did not want this position but, if “that’s how it was meant to be,” he will try to make things work.

However, not long after Moga’s appointment, the news broke out that Alexandra Macesanu, 15, was reported missing and was most likely kidnapped and killed. In the early hours of Friday last week, the police searched the house of a car mechanic from Caracal and found possible human remains and jewelery in a barrel. They arrested the man, who later confessed to murdering Alexandra, and also admitted to killing another girl who was reported missing in mid-April.

The entire case sparked public outrage, especially as information emerged that the police failed to locate the 15-year-old girl in time although she managed to call the emergency number 112 on Thursday morning and alert the authorities. Accusations were also lunched against the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), which reportedly failed to provide a more accurate location of the girl. The STS director resigned on Monday, July 29, and eight policemen who intervened in this case are currently under investigation.

Explaining his resignation, Nicolae Moga said: “I took this decision to save some of the heavily affected prestige of this institution following the deficient activity of some of its employees who have been dismissed or are to be sanctioned. […] In the six days in which I led the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I ordered all the possible controls to identify the culprits for the tragedy in Caracal. All these investigations will continue.”

Nicolae Moga was expected to present the ministry’s report on how the police intervened in the Caracal murder case and how they handled Alexandra's calls to 112. </s> BUCHAREST -- Romania's Interior Minister Nicolae Moga has announced he is stepping down, the latest departure of a top official amid public outrage over the suspected kidnapping, rape, and murder of a teenage girl.

Moga said on July 30 that he was stepping down effective immediately, just six days after being sworn into office, following talks with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.



On July 27, thousands of people protested in Bucharest over the slow response by police to the disappearance of 15-year-old Alexandra Macesanu near the southern Romanian city of Caracal.



Romania's national police chief was fired on July 26 amid criticism that it took police 19 hours last week to locate Macesanu, who had called the national emergency dispatcher three times giving clues about her location.

On July 27, thousands of people protested in Bucharest over the slow response by police to the disappearance of 15-year-old Alexandra Macesanu near the southern Romanian city of Caracal.

Adding to the growing wave of public outrage over the handling of the case, authorities on July 29 published a short transcript of the first call Macesanu made to the 112 emergency line, during which the operator told the captive girl to hang up because she was "keeping the line blocked."

Police said they found human bones and jewelry at the site where Macesanu was thought to be held – a disused automobile repair shop.



The owner of the building, 65-year-old Gheorghe Dinca, admitted to murdering both Macesanu and 18-year-old Luiza Melencu, who went missing in April.

But so far authorities have not confirmed that the bones found on Dinca's property match the DNA of either Macesanu or Melencu.

With reporting by digi24.ro, g4media.ro, and AP </s> Romania’s interior minister resigned Tuesday after it took 19 hours to find a 15-year-old girl who reported her own kidnapping to police three times and then was killed.

Alexandra Macesanu’s rape and murder has sparked outrage in the country over the bumbling police response to her 911 calls.

Minister Nicolae Moga, appointed just six days ago, resigned only days after firing Romania’s top cop.

ROMANIA'S TOP COP FIRED OVER BUMBLED RESPONSE TO CALLS FOR HELP FROM KIDNAPPED GIRL

“I have made the decision to resign to save part of the ministry’s prestige which has been strongly impacted by the deficient activity of some if its employees, who were either fired or are about to be sanctioned,” Moga said according to Reuters.

Alexandria was hitchhiking near Caracal in southern Romania Wednesday when she kidnapped.

KIDNAPPED AUSTRIAN TRIATHLETE SWEET-TALKS CAPTOR INTO LETTING HER GO: REPORT

After tracing the emergency calls, police waited three hours for a court to approve a search warrant to enter the house, though it was legally necessary.

Gheorghe Dinca, 65, has been accused of the murder.

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Dinca confessed to killing Alexandra and Luiza Melencu, 18, a hitchhiker who disappeared in April, Reuters reported. </s> Romania's interior minister says he is resigning in the wake of the murders of two teenagers, crimes which have outraged the country partly due to alleged police ineptitude.

Nicolae Moga said Tuesday that he was stepping down, just six days after being sworn into office, after a conversation with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.

Moga said his move "should be seen as a new beginning for the interior ministry."

Romania's national police chief was fired Friday amid criticism that it took police 19 hours last week to locate a 15-year-old girl who called the country's emergency hotline three times saying she had been beaten and raped by an abductor.

A man has since confessed to killing the teen as well as an 18-year-old female missing since April and burning their bodies. </s> The head of Romania’s Special Telecommunications Service (STS), an agency with military status that coordinates the activities in the field of special secure communications, resigned on Monday, July 29, amid the scandal triggered by the slow intervention of law enforcement authorities in the kidnapping and murder of a young girl in the town of Caracal last week. Meanwhile, eight policemen who intervened in this case are currently under investigation.

The STS director Sorinel Vasilca announced on Monday that he decided to send his resignation to president Klaus Iohannis, as he doesn’t want “to affect the prestige of the institution.”

“I want to mention that my resignation has not been submitted due to existence of gaps, inconsistencies or the slightest shadow of guilt in the taking over and localization of 112 emergency calls by the STS, due to my negligence or because I haven’t assumed the responsibilities of my job […] The resignation was submitted to not affect the prestige of the institution,” the STS director said in a press release.

Meanwhile, the interior minister’s Control Body proposed a preliminary investigation to see how eight policemen (five officers and three agents) intervened in the case targeting the murder of the 15-year-old girl in Caracal last week.

In addition, the Caracal Court Prosecutor's Office was asked to check the police officer who took over the 112 calls made by the girl after being reported missing. Judicial sources said that the Interior Ministry’s report in this case shows that the policeman who spoke to the girl when she called the emergency number 112 to ask for help had a reluctant attitude to the situation and didn’t try to obtain more information about the place where she was being held, according to local Hotnews.ro.

Both the STS and the police have been accused of intervening too slowly in the case of the 15-year-old girl who went missing from home last Wednesday and was killed by a 65-year-old man from Caracal.

The teenage girl disappeared on Wednesday after hitchhiking. On Thursday morning, at around 11:00, she managed to make three calls to the emergency number 112 and tell the authorities that she was being held captive in a house. The police managed to identify the main suspect’s house after many hours, searching the location only on Friday morning, at about 06:00. The police accused the STS of providing inaccurate information about the girl’s location.

The entire case sparked public outrage, people being angry at the chaotic intervention in this case. Some even believe that the girl could have been saved if the tracking and intervention systems would have worked better.

Meanwhile, the 65-year-old car mechanic who was arrested as main suspect in this case admitted to killing the 15-year-old girl, and also to killing another young girl who went missing in mid-April. </s> A Romanian gendarme stands outside the Interior Ministry, in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, July 26, 2019, near flowers and candles placed in memory of a 15 year-old girl, killed after after police took 19 hours to locate her after she was kidnapped by a man in southern Romania. The chief of Romania’s national police has been fired by Interior Minister Nicolae Moga over the handling of the kidnapping of the teenage girl, who was raped and killed in the southern city of Caracal. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s prime minister said Saturday she is considering a referendum on harsher penalties for crimes like murder, rape and pedophilia in the wake of the rape and killing of a 15-year-old girl that has shocked the country.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila also called for efforts to reduce the authorities’ reaction time in similar cases, after police were criticized for reacting too slowly to the girl’s repeated phone calls for help to the country’s emergency hotline. Romania’s national police chief was fired Friday over the handling of the case.

Thousands of people took part Saturday evening in a march protesting the handling of the case, blaming Romanian officials for negligence, incompetence and a lack of empathy.

Chanting anti-government slogans and carrying Romanian flags, the protesters marched from Victoria Palace, the government headquarters, to Revolution Square, where they lit candles outside the Interior Ministry. Some chanted “Resignation,” ”Corruption kills” and “Down with the government” during the march, while also taunting police officers with shouts of “Hide, your hands are stained with blood!”

Authorities say the man suspected in the case, Gheorghe Dinca, has been detained on suspicion of trafficking minors and rape. A court is expected to place him under preliminary arrest for up to 30 days.

The girl, whose identity has yet to be officially confirmed, was raped and killed in the southern city of Caracal.

It reportedly took police 19 hours until they began to search the suspect’s home after the victim’s calls saying she had been beaten and raped by a man who picked her up in his car as she was hitchhiking to Caracal from a nearby village. </s> BUCHAREST – Romania’s police chief and two county officials were fired late on Friday after authorities took 19 hours to respond to emergency calls from a kidnapped 15-year-old girl who died at the hands of her captor in the interim.

Interior Minister Nicolae Moga said he fired Police Chief Ioan Buda, Olt County Prefect Petre Neacsu and Olt County Police Chief Cristian Voiculescu over the case in the southern Romanian town of Caracal.

The victim called the European emergency number 112 three times for help on Thursday morning, according to the emergency phone center. A 65-year-old mechanic, Gheorghe Dinca, is suspected of killing her.

Police said they did not enter Dinca’s house until 19 hours after she called. Authorities struggled to locate the source of the calls and secured a search warrant even though it was not legally necessary. After getting the warrant, they waited for hours to enter the premises.

“Why (authorities) waited … must be clarified,” interim general prosecutor Bogdan Licu told private television station Antena3. “A girl who by all indications could have been saved has died.”

The case sparked outrage and hundreds of people gathered to protest outside the suspect’s house late on Friday. Romania’s president and prime minister called for an analysis of the response and punishment of those responsible.

At the scene, police found what appeared to be human remains in a barrel and jewelry. Police suspect the remains belong to the 15-year-old victim and to an 18-year-old girl from a nearby village who was reported missing in April. Forensics analysts were working to identify the remains.
Romanian Interior Minister Nicolae Moga [ro] resigns amid outrage over the slow response by police, state prosecutor's office and the secret service in charge of telecomunications to the disappearance and possible murder of a 15-year-old girl in the city of Caracal.