Lucian Pahonțu, head of the Protection and Guard Service, sued the Ministry of Education / His doctoral thesis was checked for plagiarism today

Head of the Protection and Guard Service, Lucian Pahonțu, filed a declaratory action on Thursday with the Bucharest Court of Appeal against the Ministry of Education and Research. The case does not yet have a first hearing date and concerns the recognition of a right in relation to the institution that awarded him his doctoral degree in 2003.

The action was registered on the same day that the National University of Defence “Carol I” announced an investigation into suspicions of plagiarism in Pahonțu’s thesis. The complaint was filed following information that at least 30% of the work may have been taken from other sources without citation or with improper citation. The Ethics Committee has 45 days to reach a decision.

Journalist Emilia Șercan stated that, although the grounds for the lawsuit are unknown, Pahonțu may be seeking a decision confirming the legality of the degree and blocking a possible plagiarism finding. The Protection and Guard Service did not issue a statement. Pahonțu is the second head of a secret service to take legal action against the Ministry of Education in a similar case, after Gabriel Vlase, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.