Adviser to the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, Ligia Gheorghe, who, according to a journalistic investigation, is involved in the Association of St. Gabriel the Brave, which is linked to centers for the elderly, where the Romanian police and DIICOT have been sent due to ill-treatment . The old people from there he only has the status of a witness, says the ministry under the leadership of Gabriela Firea. The Ministry of Family Affairs confirms that she worked without salary in the said association, but resigned shortly after joining the newly created Ministry headed by Firea, respectively, in March 2022, the facts referred to by DIICOT took place from November 2020 .

“Regarding the above adviser, the information received so far is that he only has the status of a witness in this investigation and that he has provided the authorities with all the information he has,” the Ministry of Family Affairs said. On Tuesday afternoon, News .ro reports.

The institution, headed by Gabriela Firea, says it “appreciates and supports the authorities’ efforts to investigate complaints about these homes for the elderly and centers for people with disabilities in several districts of the country”, believing that “where the reports are confirmed, people , who are guilty, must answer to the law.”

Earlier, the Ministry of the Family reported that Ligia Gheorghe left the association, which the Center for Media Investigations wrote about, dealing with centers where the elderly and the sick are treated inhumanely, although the state pays more than a thousand euros per month for each of the beneficiaries.

• “Minister Gabriela Firea is not involved in this case and was not aware of the activities of the centers and associations mentioned in this investigation. In addition, the only connection with the minister is that for a short period one of the advisers was part of the leadership of this association. The information provided to the Minister and Ms GL’s Ministry was that she no longer holds the unpaid position of Vice-President of the Association of St. Gabriel the Brave, her resignation taking place in March 2022, shortly after her tenure with the Association. ministry. This was proved by the resignation letter submitted by Ms. G.L. and registered at the head office of the respective association under no. 248/21.03.2022. In addition, Ms. GL informed the institution that she did not monitor how the association complied with its request, as the refusal was a unilateral act. Ms. GL clarified that she was surprised to learn only when contacted by reporters at the end of 2022 that she was still on that Board of Directors. Immediately after that, he requested an explanation from the management of the association and asked to urgently fulfill the request for resignation. Currently, according to the information available to us, Mrs. G.L. is no longer a member of the Board of Directors of the Association. Minister Gabriela Firea is not associated with the centers mentioned in the relevant investigation, nor with the association. Statements regarding the relationship between Minister Gabriela Firea and Mrs. GL, apart from friendship and collegiality, are tendentious and have the role of distorting reality,” the ministry under the leadership of Gabriela Firea said.

Also, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities wanted to clarify that it does not have the authority to accredit and/or control nursing homes and/or centers for people with disabilities.

• “The field of activity of the mentioned association, caring for adults with disabilities, does not fall under the competence of the ministry,” the institution headed by Fireya said.

A large-scale operation by Romanian police and DIICOT took place on Tuesday morning when they raided three homes for the elderly in Ilfov county. About 100 people were held in incredible conditions, starving and without medical care, by two criminal gangs, the IGPR said.

According to the IGPR, 26 suspects were brought to trial on Tuesday in the case of inhuman or degrading treatment of adults with disabilities.

Dozens of elderly people taken to the hospital

To help the elderly, several ambulances and doctors from the Floreaska Hospital arrived at the social housing, said Bohdan Toma, an officer of the DSU.

56 elderly people who were in inhumane conditions in three orphanages in Voluntari were transported by SMURD teams to hospitals for medical treatment, police officials announced on Tuesday, quoted by Agerpres.

“Fortunately, only four required continued treatment in a hospital and remained hospitalized in the nursing units. Next, my colleagues, both SMURD firefighters and doctors and nurses from UPU SMURD – Floreasca, are on site and provide first aid to people who need it,” said police captain Bohdan Toma from IGSU.

“Conditions in Auschwitz”

• “The conditions in Auschwitz, if you can imagine. It was here. I saw them near the fence, they were naked begging for food. They were kept naked near the fence,” said a man who passes by the Voluntary Horror Asylum every day and sees residents naked even in the cold season, Digi24 reports.
• “They came to the fence naked. About two years. It seems that they were beaten (…) Every time we passed by, poor old people came to the gate and begged: “I want a penny too, give me two lei too.” Don’t you have a horn either?” – residents of the area where the shelters are located tell about the injuries and humiliation suffered by the elderly, reports Agerpres.

The police claim that they were informed about it according to the official procedure.

At the same time, the prosecutor’s office is also investigating two cases in which authorities are also involved, warrants are being executed at the headquarters of some public and private institutions involved in criminal activities in the city of Bucharest and in the counties of Ilfov and Ialomica.

Two public institutions, investigated

The research showed that from 2021 until now, two state public institutions responsible for the field of social assistance and child protection concluded several contracts with an association that did not have a license to operate, on the provision of social services in a hospital for adults. recognized as disabled, in violation of the provisions of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement, causing losses to the own budget in the amount of more than 3.5 million lei.

The police asked the relatives of the elderly to contact the law enforcement officers at 0743.164.790 to get information about the state of health and the hospitals where the people who ended up in shelters were taken.

Terrible conditions in nursing homes were revealed as early as February 2023 by a journalistic investigation by Buletin de București and the Media Research Center.

The association received money, but did not provide services

According to the investigation, an organization founded by people close to Gabriela Firea received €30,000 a month from the Sector 3 City Hall, headed by Robert Negoitz, to care for people with disabilities in a shelter in Piepera, Voluntari, but in fact no medical services were provided.

It is about the Armonia center of the Association of St. Gabriel the Brave, owned by Ligia Enake and Stefan Godea, close friends of Gabriela Firea and her husband Florentin Pandele, mayor of Voluntari, investigative journalists report.

Another center of the association is in Afumatsi commune, where more than 30 people were kept in unbelievable conditions, the shelter was infested with bedbugs and smelled strongly of urine and feces.

Investigative journalists found out that the residents of the centers, where they were supposed to receive help, were bitten by bugs and left with bedsores that reached to the bones.

The inhumane conditions in which the elderly lived were reported to the Directorate General of Social Assistance and Protection of Children (DGASPC) Ilfov, and Rezvan Shiku, the head of the service that deals with the problems of adults with disabilities, came and saw and said that he was serious did not like, investigative journalists also testify.

Following the dissolution of DIICOT, the Legal Resource Center (CRJ) is asking the Romanian government to urgently adopt a National Plan for the Prevention of Ill, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, as requested by Strasbourg officials, according to a press release sent. on HotNews.ro.