Suspect of Terrorism Declared Persona Non Grata

02 August 2017

Upon the notice of SRI, the Bucharest Court of Appeal has declared the Tunisian citizen B.O. persona non grata for a 10-year period for reasons related with his involvement in terrorism-related activities.

B.O. came to Romania in 2008 to be a student of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, where he graduated both the bachelor’s and the master’s courses. Subsequently, B.O. remained legally in Romania, after he married a Romanian citizen from whom he separated in 2016. In the same year, the suspect caught the attention of SRI, as he was undergoing an accelerated process of Islamic religious radicalization. About at the same time, B.O. was also mentioned to SRI by some of its foreign partners as belonging to a network which would finance the terrorist organization DAESH.

The informative-operative measures which were taken established that the person in question carried out activities that, according to the legal framework applicable to the terrorism field, presented risks and threats to the national security.

Basically, B.O. stood up because of his religious radicalization and propagandistic activities in the online environment to the benefit of DAESH by supporting the supremacy of Islam and instigating to global Jihad. Moreover, the cooperation with the National System for the Prevention and Countering of Terrorism (SNPCT) confirmed the conclusions of the SRI’s foreign partners with respect to the involvement of the Tunisian citizen in repeated transactions meant to financially support the terrorist organization.

Upon the proposal of SRI, the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court of Appeal notified the Bucharest Court of Appeal that, in compliance with the provisions of Article 86, paragraph 3 of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 194/12.12.2002 regarding the regime of foreigners in Romania took the measure of declaring the person in question as persona non grata, given his involvement in actions which, according to Article 3, item “i” and “I” of Law no. 51/2001 (revisited), represent a threat to national security. Following the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the foreign citizen was taken into public custody by the Ministry of Internal Affairs – the General Inspectorate for Immigration in view of his expelling outside our national territory.

In its capacity as a national authority for preventing and countering terrorism, SRI has as a priority the mission to prevent any terrorism-related risks and threats, given its cooperation in the field both with other SNPCT institutions, and with its foreign partners.