Romanian police foil armed mercenaries in Jan. 6 style plot
Some 20 people were detained on way to Bucharest with weapons, according to local media.
Moderator - Tomas Kauer Romanian police stopped 20 people — including the leader of a mercenary group — heading to the capital with an arsenal of weapons, local media reported Sunday, as the country remains on edge over its canceled presidential election.
Among those taken for questioning was Horaţiu Potra, a figure in local Romanian politics and the former leader of a mercenary group that operated in Africa. He was detained on Saturday evening after being stopped travelling to Bucharest in a Mercedes containing a gun, knives and various other weapons, along with cash in five currencies, according to Romania’s national news agency.
Twenty people making their way to Bucharest in vehicles containing weapons were also pulled over and taken for questioning, Digi24 reported. The group, allegedly coordinated by Potra, had booked hotels close to Bucharest’s University Square and were planning to disrupt protests against far-right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, according to the media outlet.
They had also prepared a list of politicians and journalists as part of an “intimidation operation,” Digi24 reported. Romanian authorities confirmed in a statement that they had “stopped several vehicles in traffic” and confiscated an array of weapons, leading to the questioning of 13 people, but did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
Potra’s lawyer said he had been detained on weapons and public incitement charges relating to a Facebook post but denied he had any links to Georgescu. His legal team did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
Asked about his links to Potra, Georgescu told a Romanian news program that he had heard of the mercenary but “haven’t met him in person” and denied summoning the armed cadre to Bucharest to disrupt protests.
Romania was plunged into political chaos last week when the Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the presidential election after an alleged Russian operation to influence the result.
Georgescu, a pro-Russia, far-right firebrand and NATO skeptic, came first and was slated to face off against reformist Elena Lasconi in the second round, but the entire election will now be rerun. Georgescu did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
