A Romanian judge who was suspended for posting TikToks says he believes the government was retaliating against him: Report

• Cristi Danilet was stripped of his magistrate position on Monday for TikToks he posted last year.
• In one, Danilet was cutting a hedge. In the other, he was cleaning his swimming pool.

A Romanian judge has been suspended from his position for posting TikToks on Monday, the Associated Press reported. Cristi Danilet was stripped of his magistrate position on Monday for two videos he posted last year, according to the AP: one video showed him cutting a hedge, and in the other, he was cleaning his pool.

Danilet's TikTok account, where he has over 9,000 followers, is now private. But before his suspension, he was fairly active, as shown by footage that's been screen-recorded and shared on YouTube. In one video, posted to YouTube by the Romanian news channel B1, Danilet can be seen practicing martial arts in the pool.

According to the AP, Danilet was suspended by the Superior Council of Magistracy for "behavior that affects the image of the justice system." The decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Danilet has been one of the most vocal advocates for reforming Romania's Judiciary system, which many consider corrupt. The nation earned 44 points out of 100 on Transparency International's 2020 corruptions perceptions index, meaning it's considered one of the more corrupt countries in the world, though a report by the European Commission in June found the country was making progress in its fight against corruption.

Danilet, who emphasized that the videos have nothing to do with his profession, said in his interview with the AP that he believed the Superior Council of Magistracy was retaliating against his advocacy for judicial reform.

"I think it's a kind of payback," Danilet told the AP. "For many years I've been involved in the reform of [Romania's] judiciary ... I've got a lot of enemies for this kind of attitude. In Romania, it's very difficult to make reforms of the judiciary, but also reforms of mentalities."

On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Bucharest said it was "deeply concerned" about Danilet's suspension.

"An independent justice that respects the rule of law is essential for any prosperous democracy," the embassy said in a statement shared on Twitter.

Former Prime Minister of Romania Dacian Ciolos, who served between 2015 and 2017, told the AP the current government was partaking in the "destruction of justice." He said the situation "looks bad no matter how we look at things."

"Even if this decision is overturned by the High Court, the signal has been given," he said. "Judges need to be very careful."