Sentence in “Bute Gala” case
Former Development Minister Elena Udrea was sentenced to prison in the “Bute Gala case.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 29.03.2017, 12:55
For Elena Udrea, a former Minister of Development in the right-of-centre Cabinet in 2008-2012, legal trouble got serious with the sentence she received in the court of first instance in what is known as the “Bute Gala case. The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest handed Udrea a six-year imprisonment sentence, also forcing her to pay damages of 3 million euros. Indicted in April 2015, Udrea was found guilty for bribe taking and abuse of office, while charges of forgery of documents under private signature for unlawfully obtaining European funds were dropped.
Also prosecuted in the case were the former president of the Romanian Boxing Federation, Rudel Obreja, who got a five-year prison sentence, and former Economy Minister Ion Ariton, who was acquitted. Prosecutors accused the two of unlawfully using public funds to organize a boxing gala for the former world champion Lucian Bute. The other people indicted in the case admitted to their wrongdoings and got off with suspended prison sentences. Elena Udrea said the sentence is not just unfair, but an abuse and a “masquerade.
The case once again confirms that the National Anticorruption Directorate, the object of constant praise by the European Commission as part of its annual reports on Romanias progress in the field of the judiciary, continues to do its job undisturbed. The conviction of Elena Udrea, a close political associate of former President Traian Basescu, is the latest in a series of investigations of high-profile officials from Romania, commonly seen as one of the most corrupt EU Member States. The special relation with president Basescu acted as a springboard, helping Udrea secure her seat in the Cabinet. Some political pundits even say that her influence with the President made her say weigh heavier than that of the acting Prime Minister back then, Emil Boc, at a time when Romania was struggling to emerge from economic recession.
In 2008-2012 the Romanian media was permeated with stories of the huge leverage Udrea was holding as Minister of Development, overseeing the spending of hefty budgets. Udrea gave the green light to a number of smaller- or larger-scale projects, which more often than not were to the benefit of local elected officials from the ranks of her own party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, which in the meantime merged into the National Liberal Party. In recent years, Elena Udrea has taken a step back from politics, seemingly trying to cope with the legal consequences of her term in office.
(translated by: Vlad Palcu)
