law and the European Court of Human Rights. In 2002, along with other Romanian human rights activists, she publicly opposed the indictment of a former aide to previous President Emil Constantinescu after he accused then Prime Minister Nastase of corruption. Many Romanian news commentators agreed with her, noting what they called a serious attack on the freedom of expression. Macovei, herself, characterized the arrest as "one of the worst attempts to muzzle the press in Romania" since communism collapsed. The arrest received widespread attention in Europe as an example of alleged abuses against the press at the time. As an activist, Macovei supported LGBT rights, an issue on which she would also focus in her political career. In 2000, she assisted Romanian gay rights groups in overturning Article 200, one of the last sodomy laws in Europe. While Minister of Justice, Macovei intervened in May 2005 to help ensure that the Romanian LGBT rights group Accept could hold the country's first pride parade, the Bucharest GayFest, after the Bucharest City Hall had denied the group a parade permit. As MEP, she joined the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT rights. She was the only Romanian politician to support Bucharest GayFest 2011. Justice Minister Macovei was appointed Justice Minister in December 2004, following the surprise victory of then Democratic Party (PD) leader Traian Băsescu in the second round of presidential elections against Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Adrian Năstase. Băsescu's victory was characterized in the media as Romania's "Orange Revolution," comparing the victory of perceived reformists in Romania to events in neighboring Ukraine during the same period. It was also a reference to the orange color used by the winning Justice and Truth Alliance, which comprised the PD and the National Liberal Party (PNL) led by Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu. Independent civil society organizations played an important role in securing the victory of the Justice and Truth Alliance, and Macovei's appointment was seen as acknowledgement of this contribution. As an activist who had spent much of her career advocating for judicial reform in Romania, she also appeared to be well-situated to implement extensive reforms as well as increased efforts against high profile corruption, both of which were requirements for EU accession. Anti-corruption was also a prominent theme in the parliamentary and presidential elections of that year. Anti-Corruption Reforms Shortly after her appointment, Macovei stated that "fighting corruption" would be one of the top priorities