{"id":94452,"date":"2025-09-16T22:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=94452"},"modified":"2025-09-16T22:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:02:09","slug":"coup-plot-charges-for-former-romanian-presidential-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=94452","title":{"rendered":"Coup plot charges for former Romanian presidential candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 25 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Romanian far-right former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has been charged with attempting to stage a coup after the first round of the presidential election was annulled last December.<\/p>\n

Horatiu Potra, a former French legionnaire and militia chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 20 other people were also charged.<\/p>\n

The case rests on a planned raid on the Romanian capital Bucharest on 8 December, which police foiled.<\/p>\n

Romanian prosecutors describe a plot targeting Romania\u2019s constitutional order, involving Georgescu, Potra, their group, and alleged foreign intelligence links.<\/p>\n

Potra and others have been charged with instigating the coup, while Georgescu is accused of conspiring with Potra.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Georgescu met Potra and other members of his group at a horse farm in December, soon after Georgescu\u2019s victory was annulled.<\/p>\n

Georgescu initially denied that the meeting took place, but later admitted it after photographs were published in Romanian media. However, he denies discussing plans to stage an insurrection.<\/p>\n

In late February, police raided several locations in Romania, uncovering a cache of weapons, gold and cash, with which it is alleged Potra\u2019s group were planning to stage a violent power grab.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Potra is currently not in the country and may seek asylum in Russia.<\/p>\n

Georgescu, 63, came in a surprise first in the first round of Romania\u2019s presidential election last November.<\/p>\n

That result\u00a0was annulled by the Constitutional Court\u00a0just days before the second round was due to take place amid allegations of Russian interference.<\/p>\n

Romanian intelligence services suggested his presence and popularity on social media had been boosted by a mass influence operation \u2013 conducted from abroad \u2013 to interfere with the result of the vote.<\/p>\n

At a press conference, Prosecutor General Florenta described the annulled 2024 election as \u201cthe result of a hybrid war orchestrated by Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

He alleged that cyberattacks on airports and public institutions coincided with an online disinformation campaign waged through troll farms, bots, and AI-generated content.<\/p>\n

According to investigators, more than 2,000 Facebook pages were used to amplify pro-Georgescu messaging, while TikTok networks of over 20,000 automated accounts boosted his campaign in the days before the vote.<\/p>\n

After Georgescu\u00a0was barred from registering as a candidate\u00a0his ally George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR party, stood in his place in the May rerun.<\/p>\n

Simion won a dramatic first-round victory but\u00a0was eventually beaten into second place by Nicusor Dan, the liberal, pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, in the run-off.<\/p>\n

Georgescu has not yet commented on the charges, although this month he accused the Romanian authorities of ruling through \u201cdeceit, intrigue and division\u201d.<\/p>\n

President Dan said the report by prosecutors was \u201cproof\u201d that Russia had exercised \u201csystematic disinformation\u201d in Romania and had tried to influence the 2024 election.<\/p>\n

A date for Georgescu\u2019s trial has not yet been given, but it could begin in early 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CoupRomanian far-right former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has been charged with attempting to stage a coup after the first round of the presidential election was annulled last December.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8682,1910,10,9,8554],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coup-attempt","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-romania"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}