Court to rule Tuesday on lecturer Alexandru Toader's appeal against pretrial detention

The appeal before the court

The High Court of Cassation and Justice is due to rule on Tuesday, 3 November, on an appeal by Alexandru Toader against his 30-day pretrial detention. Toader, a former lecturer in the law faculty of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași and the son of former justice minister Tudorel Toader, was detained by prosecutors on 23 October. The Iași Court of Appeal ordered the detention on 24 October, and Toader lodged his challenge with the High Court the same day. He hopes to be freed on Tuesday. His defence team is expected to argue that the evidence against him is not sufficiently proven and that a milder measure, such as house arrest or judicial control, should apply. His father, who is also part of the defence team, has declined to comment beyond saying that justice is done in the courtroom. Toader has not been convicted of any offence.

What prosecutors allege

Prosecutors charge Toader with continued rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and using his position for sexual purposes, involving several female students. According to the prosecutors' request for detention, he exploited the students' fear of failing the exam in the subject he taught. The prosecutors describe the alleged abuse as starting a year after he became a lecturer in the law faculty. HotNews reports that the first alleged rape dates to 8 November 2022, when a 21-year-old student says she was summoned to his notarial office. She says she was raped again a week later in his faculty office, and she dropped out of the faculty a week after that. The allegations first surfaced through reporting by Iași journalists, who identified several students who had complained of the alleged abuse.

University and family measures

The university said in a press release on 2 November that Toader cannot teach until the criminal case is resolved, whatever measures the court imposes. Rector Liviu George Maha had already said on 26 October that the law faculty's leadership had decided to bar him from teaching even if the detention is annulled. Tudorel Toader and fellow lawyer Andreea Urda have also stopped holding activities with fourth-year students, to avoid contact with potential victims or witnesses. After the detention, Tudorel Toader, who is also his son's lawyer, published a message on Facebook:

“It is an attack on me, striking at Alexandru.”

Searches and the sequence so far

On the evening of 27 October, Toader was taken from Iași police custody to his notarial office, where searches lasted several hours. He was present, handcuffed and wearing a face mask, when he left the police headquarters. According to dezvăluirea.ro, investigators also checked the university, where Toader reportedly has his office. The timeline below shows the steps from the detention to Tuesday's hearing.