> BUCHAREST, Romania — A well-known judge in Romania has been suspended from his position over videos he posted on the social media platform TikTok, a move that has drawn widespread criticism and condemnation from the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.
> Cristi Danilet, a judge in Romania’s northern city of Cluj, was suspended Monday by the Superior Council of Magistrates over two videos he posted on TikTok last year which a panel decided amounted to “behavior that affects the image of the justice system.”
> Danilet on Tuesday told The Associated Press that in one video he appeared cutting a garden hedge and in another cleaning his at-home swimming pool and that neither video which led to the disciplinary action had anything to do with his profession. The decision can be appealed.
> Danilet, who has amassed a large social media following, has for years been critical of Romania’s judiciary and called for reforms, and has in the past organized protests against those who oppose reforms. He also runs legal education courses for children.
> “I think it’s a kind of payback,” Danilet told the AP. “For many years I’ve been involved in the reform of (Romania’s) judiciary … I’ve got a lot of enemies for this kind of attitude. In Romania, it’s very difficult to make reforms of the judiciary, but also reforms of mentalities.”
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> BUCHAREST, Romania — A well-known judge in Romania has been suspended from his position over videos he posted on the social media platform TikTok, a move that has drawn widespread criticism and condemnation from the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.
> Cristi Danilet, a judge in Romania’s northern city of Cluj, was suspended Monday by the Superior Council of Magistrates over two videos he posted on TikTok last year which a panel decided amounted to “behavior that affects the image of the justice system.”
> Danilet on Tuesday told The Associated Press that in one video he appeared cutting a garden hedge and in another cleaning his at-home swimming pool and that neither video which led to the disciplinary action had anything to do with his profession. The decision can be appealed.
> Danilet, who has amassed a large social media following, has for years been critical of Romania’s judiciary and called for reforms, and has in the past organized protests against those who oppose reforms. He also runs legal education courses for children.
> “I think it’s a kind of payback,” Danilet told the AP. “For many years I’ve been involved in the reform of (Romania’s) judiciary … I’ve got a lot of enemies for this kind of attitude. In Romania, it’s very difficult to make reforms of the judiciary, but also reforms of mentalities.”