Romanian far-right politician Calin Georgescu on Tuesday, March 11, lost his appeal against a decision barring him from standing in the country's presidential election re-run.
The constitutional court rejected Georgescu's appeal, several Romanian media reported, as George Simion, who leads the far-right AUR party, accused the court of "mocking the Romanian people" and "attacking our democracy and our essential rights and freedoms."
The ruling, which was unanimous, came two days after the Central Election Bureau rejected Georgescu’s candidacy for the May election. It wasn’t immediately clear on what grounds the court made Tuesday's decision, which is final.
Hundreds of Georgescu supporters who had gathered near the court, many waving Romanian flags, responded by chanting "Thieves!"
The bureau had cited in its decision on Sunday the Constitutional Court’s ruling last year to cancel the elections after allegations of electoral violations and that Russia had run a coordinated online campaign to promote Georgescu, who ran as an independent. The decision to cancel the election was made two days before the December 8 runoff.