Agent Green files criminal complaint against Romsilva over the Transfăgărășan tragedy

Pitești, 14 July 2025 – Agent Green today filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Argeș Tribunal concerning the recent tragedy in the Făgăraș Mountains in which an Italian tourist and a female bear lost their lives, leaving three cubs orphaned.

The organisation, which is an injured party in the criminal complaint, accuses the authorities of poaching and of committing the following offences:

• Negligence in office, under Article 298 of the Criminal Code;
• Manslaughter, under Article 192(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code;
• Unauthorised capture/killing of a protected species, under Article 52(1)(g) and (h) of Emergency Ordinance No. 57/2007;
• Failure to comply with legal obligations concerning wildlife management, in the form of a continuing administrative offence, under Article 48(d) of Law 407/2006.

The criminal complaint is directed against Romsilva – the Argeș Forestry Directorate, legally represented by director Armand Chiriloiu, and against the intervention committee appointed under Emergency Ordinance No. 81/2021.

The offences are explained and described in detail in the criminal complaint filed today by Agent Green through the organisation’s lawyer, Cătălina Rădulescu.

The official documents officially obtained by Agent Green show that:

• Throughout 2020–2025, the Argeș Forestry Directorate consistently neglected its legal obligations to prevent bears from becoming habituated to human presence;
• The intervention committee did not carry out the appropriate deterrence actions provided for in Article 5 of Emergency Ordinance 81/2021, proceeding directly to shoot the female bear and abandon or unlawfully take possession of her cubs (only one of which was recovered following public pressure), while the responsible staff (game wardens) were consistently unequipped, unarmed and without means of intervention to drive bears back into the forest, such as non-lethal firearms with rubber bullets
• The Mountain Gendarmerie repeatedly reported bears on the road, including on the day of the fatal incident, without any response from the forestry institution or intervention committee;
• During June–July 2025, bears frequented the DN7C road, including parking areas and tourist sites, without the hunting-ground manager taking preventive measures;
• Following the death, a request for a derogation to relocate the cubs was issued on the basis of a form signed on 6 July 2025 (document No. 4501/06.07.2025), indicating that the intervention involving the female bear was not covered by a derogation when the attack occurred.

For failure to comply with the law, the Gendarmerie repeatedly fined Romsilva – the Argeș Forestry Directorate, and there are already 2 final court judgments in cases between the two institutions:

Case 3161/216/2020
First instance https://web.justitie-ag.ro/jud_ca/jud_app/dosar_detalii.asp?id_dosar=21600000000059689

Appeal – https://web.justitie-ag.ro/tr_ag/tr_app/dosar_detalii.asp?id_dosar=21600000000059688

Case 3162/216/2020
First instance – https://web.justitie-ag.ro/jud_ca/jud_app/dosar_detalii.asp?id_dosar=21600000000059688

Appeal – https://web.justitie-ag.ro/tr_ag/tr_app/dosar_detalii.asp?id_dosar=21600000000059689

At the end of the criminal complaint, Agent Green asks the Prosecutor’s Office to:

• Open an in rem criminal investigation into the acts described;

• Identify and hold accountable the responsible individuals within the Argeș Forestry Directorate and intervention committee;

• Hear the gendarme witnesses who intervened in the area;

• Request documents concerning:

  • The convening of the committee;

  • The victim’s forensic medical report;

  • Fines imposed on the Argeș Forestry Directorate and court judgments;

• Obtain a technical expert assessment of the legality of the removal operation and whether the act constitutes intervention or poaching