Former bishop Cornel Onilă contests his eight-year sentence for rape and sexual assault. The High Court is reviewing the appeal for annulment, but Onilă remains in prison.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) is judging the appeal for annulment filed by Cornel Onilă, former bishop of Huși, sentenced to eight years in prison for rape, sexual assault, and blackmail. This is the second extraordinary means of appeal, after the appeal in cassation, which was admitted in principle, but without suspending the execution of the sentence. Onilă was definitively convicted by the Galați Court of Appeal for sexual abuses committed against students at the 'Ioan Gură de Aur' Theological Seminary. Alongside him, former archimandrite Sebastian Jitaru was also tried for his actions. The victims have requested damages of 500,000 euros, and the Huși Diocese and Theological Seminary have been summoned to court as responsible parties. Onilă denies the accusations, claiming that the evidence is fabricated. The ICCJ will decide on the appeal for annulment, concerning the rape, in the context of a premiere in the history of the Romanian Orthodox Church.