BUCHAREST, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A Romanian court ruled on Tuesday that Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian former frontrunner in a cancelled 2024 presidential election, should be moved from police custody to house arrest for 30 days pending a criminal probe into suspected fraud.
Prosecutors said Georgescu and two other suspects had persuaded a Romanian businessman to give them €1.1 million ($1.23 million) by making him believe they could help him secure a credit line of up to €15 million from a foreign financial institution. He has denied wrongdoing.
Georgescu previously challenged the court ruling from late September to keep him in police custody pending the investigation, and on Tuesday the court said he could be moved to house arrest. The decision can be appealed.
Hundreds of Georgescu supporters have been protesting against his investigation. George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians, which leads opinion polls, said Tuesday’s ruling was a sign protesters were being heard.
Georgescu, who was banned from running again but remains popular, is already on trial in two separate cases - one on charges of attempting to disrupt national security after the election was cancelled, and the second for promoting Romania’s 1930s fascist leaders, which is illegal. He denies wrongdoing.
Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, canceled its presidential election in December 2024 over suspected Russian interference in favour of Georgescu, a strong critic of NATO, Brussels and Western support for Ukraine.
Russia denied interfering in the vote.
The presidential election was re-run in May 2025 and was ultimately won by pro-European centrist Nicusor Dan.
($1 = 0.8938 euros)
(Reporting by Luiza IlieEditing by Gareth Jones)
