Gabriela Firea, the Minister of Family Affairs and Equal Opportunities since November 2021, had the first public reaction on Thursday in the case of incredible abuses in shelters in Voluntari, owned by an association in which her close relatives are involved, according to investigations by the Media Investigation Center and bulletins from Bucharest. Firea claims that they are trying to intimidate him, compromise his image and remove him from political life: “Everything is proof that political opponents are capable of everything, even staging, to prevent me from running for mayor of Bucharest.”

Gabriela Firea reacted to this with a message on Facebook, in which she claimed that she was not involved in this case and did not know about the activities of the centers and associations that are the target of this investigation.

She accuses that those who have made accusations against her are in the “service of certain political parties and people” and that the only connection would be that in the management of the association in the file “for a short period of time one of my advisers was part of” .

Fiera rushes to the defense of his adviser Ligia Gheorghe, who is also his friend, claiming that she also did not know about the activities of the centers belonging to this association.

We reproduce Gabriela Firea’s message in full:

• “They are trying to intimidate me, compromise my image, remove me from political life! What is my fault? Is it my fault that I exist? 2 months ago we were selling children to Romanians, and now the old are suffering! It is obvious that this is a campaign organized against me as a person, a minister and a candidate for the mayor’s office!
• Since the information about these serious cases appeared, we have been saying that those responsible for the detected violations should pay. Any abuse of people, especially the helpless, is unacceptable, and whoever is at fault must be held accountable.
• Any kind of cruelty towards the elderly is unacceptable and I cannot condone such behavior. I support that all these centers should be control centers, that there should be extensive checks at the national level. But from bringing the culprits to justice, as investigators do correctly, to inventing responsible persons, just to slander me – the path is long and has no relation to reality.
• The Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, which I chair, does not have the authority to accredit and/or monitor nursing homes and/or centers for people with disabilities. The field of activity of the researched centers – care for adults with disabilities – does not fall under the competence of the ministry.
• I am not involved in this case and did not know about the activities of the centers and associations that are mentioned in this investigation. Despite the enormous efforts made by people who have proven their lack of deontology and equidistance while in the service of some political parties and people, the only connection is the fact that in the management of the association in the file for a short period of time, one of my advisers .
• The data from the file, which appeared in the public space, is the biggest proof that even my adviser did not know about the activities of the centers that belong to the relevant association. Of course, it is not interesting for the deceivers that her name does not appear in the transcripts quoted in the press, nor in the published intercepts, nor in the documents. Also, the confusion was intentionally created by posting mixed up images to make my consultant look even more guilty and me too.
• I will also make something as clear as possible: my sister has nothing to do with the DIICOT investigation, even though she works for one of the targeted agencies, DGASPC Ilfov. Since she has worked at this facility, she has never had any responsibilities for adults with disabilities, accrediting or inspecting these centers, entering into contracts, or making payments for services provided. My sister’s responsibilities are related to educational programs for children. Even at my former job, he had no such responsibilities, no matter what the people who are part of the well-thought-out and orchestrated plan to compromise me say. My sister is not and has never been under investigation, and will not be, given her lack of involvement in this dramatic case. The only “guilt” is that she is my sister and works at the researched institution, but in a different department.
• I realize with bitterness that the election campaign has already started, and much earlier. Through manipulation, information taken out of context, false articles in the press that do not adhere to the minimum of truth and are politically connected, smearing and intimidation, they are trying to eliminate me from a possible election race before any competition begins. In parallel with the investigation of the criminal proceedings, there is an election struggle, which some political parties started in favor of their own candidates, in order to prevent me from getting a new mandate in the capital’s mayor’s office.
• For the past two days, I have been attacked and abused with the sole aim of destroying my public image for political purposes. This is all the more obvious when the accusations come from the same people who systematically attacked me during my term as mayor, in the election campaign and subsequently in the public positions I held. But any attack on my family, my children and my husband with the desire to compromise our careers is low-level lynching. As my husband also pointed out, the city hall headed by him does not have the authority to control nursing homes and does not have contracts for the provision of social services with private partners.
• Everything is proof that political opponents are capable of anything, even staging, to prevent me from running for mayor of Bucharest. They won’t succeed because the truth will come out, and people won’t be fooled by my vilification and intimidation.”