EXCLUSIVE A father and his high school son have called for the founding of the Coalition for the Legalization of Marijuana (CPLM) Party / The boy’s mother, who was accused of bullying in the past, is the head of a structure in the Ministry of Education that works to identify new approaches in the education system

An action was filed at the Bucharest Court on Tuesday, March 7, in which three people request approval for the establishment of the Coalition for the Legalization of Marijuana (CPLM). Two of the petitioners are father and son: Șerban Ion (58 years old) and TO, the latter still a high school student, but an adult after his 18th birthday in December 2022. TO’s mother is Ana Maria Dalu, director of the Unit for Research in Education, a structure under the Ministry of Education which, according to a presentation on its website, provides the scientific support needed for the latest approaches in the education system, „for authentic, motivating, active and creative learning.” Ana Maria Dalu declined to comment on her son’s approach in the context of his position, saying he is of age and accountable for his actions.

So far, the Bucharest Court has not set a first trial date in the case brought by Șerban Ion O, Tudor O and Irina Gheorghe. The subject of the legalization of marijuana use in Romania has increasingly appeared in the public arena in recent years, with leading politicians among those presenting their views on the advisability of legalizing the drug.

Contacted by G4Media.ro, Ana Maria Dalu refused to give a point of view on the initiative of her two family members, including from the perspective of her position: „I do not comment, it is the right of every citizen. I have nothing to do with it. My son is of age, he has the right to his opinion, everyone is responsible for what he does”. She would not provide a contact number for her son, while her husband, a civic activist in Bucharest, did not respond to G4Media.ro’s calls or a Whatsapp message.

Ana Maria Dalu (48) heads the Education Research Unit (UCE), a directorate within the National Centre for Policy and Evaluation in Education under the Ministry of Education. Recent studies of the UCE include „Report on the state of the Romanian education system”, „The value of neuroscience for improving educational practice” or „Study: Back to school Post-COVID”.

According to the information posted on the courts’ portal and in the one where the court decisions are published, Tudor O was repeatedly sanctioned in secondary school (lowering of his grade in behavior to 8, written reprimand, temporary or permanent withdrawal of his scholarship, disciplinary transfer to a parallel class in the same school, lowering of his grade in behavior to 6) for several acts of bullying.

Subsequently, in a lawsuit filed with his parents, the pupil obtained, by a final decision, the annulment of the sanctions after the magistrates observed that the educational establishment had not respected the procedural steps in taking the sanctions, including not giving O the right of defense.

During the trial, the Bucharest school where the boy was studying reported that, among other things, Tudor O „repeatedly interrupted the music and changed it to manele, was naughty and used inappropriate expressions, telling the teacher in front of her that he was lying”, „physically assaulted another student by kicking him in different areas of the body, especially in the chest and head area”, „threw the box of dairy products (received through Romania’s school program – Milk and Corn) on the floor, some products broke and spilled on the floor”, „has a defiant attitude towards teachers, talks loudly during class and moves from his desk”, „does not wear school uniform”, „repeatedly pushed and swore at a classmate, then hit her with his fists”, „used foul language, provoked the laughter of his colleagues by the vulgar, sexual connotations that the expression „notre poule dans votre cour” in French has in Romanian”, „told a colleague „Let’s fuck her. . pe K in…”‘, ‘he asked daily for money from classmates and pupils in the school, he invited a colleague to the toilet to measure her genitals with the ruler the girl was holding in her hand, to another colleague he said „Let me fuck her!!!’ When the plaintiff sat down on a colleague’s seat and the colleague told her that she was going to go to the director, the plaintiff did not hesitate to say ‘I’ll stick my dick…, in your director!!!'” (excerpts from Decision no. 8992 of 20 December 2019 of the Bucharest Tribunal).

At the trial, the educational establishment informed the court that the boy’s mother „denied or minimized the seriousness of the facts”, excusing him each time for his behavior, one of the arguments being that „All children talk bad” and that some facts were jokes.

Regarding this situation, Ana Maria Dalu told G4Media.ro that „my son’s fundamental rights were violated and we won the case definitively”, asking G4Media.ro reporters to call her lawyer for further details.

Background

Over the years, Ana Maria Dalu has held several positions in public institutions – personal advisor in the National Authority for Youth and Sport, advisor in the Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi Institute for Romanians Abroad within the former Ministry for Romanians Abroad or researcher in the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

In one of her asset declarations, under the income of her life partner Șerban O, she wrote: „I do not know my husband’s income as he refuses to tell me”. In 2022, she ran for a seat on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Combating Discrimination, but her candidacy did not pass the parliamentary vote.