Romanian SC sentences former prime minister to 2-year jail

Irish Sun Monday 30th January, 2012

BUCHAREST - Former prime minister of Romania Adrian Nastase was sentenced to a two-year prison term for corruption in the 'Quality Trophy' file case by the Supreme Court on Monday, in the first such sentencing of a top-ranking politician.

The first former prime minister to be sent to jail since the fall of communism in 1989, Nastase will remain free pending an appeal.

According to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Nastase was charged in connection with fundraising for the 2004 campaign when he ran for Presidency. Now the ex-premier can appeal the non-irrevocable penalty.

Over 900 witnesses were heard during 48 sessions. Nastase who was cleared recently in another corruption case called Matusa Tamara ("Aunt Tamara") claims he is innocent and the trial is a political one.

"It is legitimate for those who win political elections to "doctor" cases to those who lose. I have nothing to do with the "quality trophy"," Nastase said.

In January 2009, Nastase was indicted in this case on charges of using influence or authority as the head of the government to obtain for himself money, goods or other benefits.

A member of the Social Democratic Party, 61-year-old Nastase has been charged along with five other officials of taking part in organizing an event to illegally collect money for his presidential campaign in 2004, a Supreme Court official said in a live broadcast on TVR television station in Bucharest.

This case reveals several other defendants including Irina Jianu (former inspector general of the State Construction Inspectorate (ISC)), Diana Gasparovici, Mihail Cristian Vasile (CEO of SC Eurografica SRL) and the couple Marian Ioana i Bogdan Popovici (president of Forum Invest). Popovici is due to serve a 7-year sentence.

According to the indictment, during the election year 2004, ISC, managed by Irina Jianu, "began organizing a symposium entitled "the trophy of the quality in construction."

"In reality, the symposium represented a framework aimed at masking the collection of money for the presidential campaign of (then presidential candidate) Adrian Nastase," stated the Romanian Anticorruption Division DNA.

According to the prosecutors, the state budget was depleted of $2 million because of the scheme mastered by Nastase who lost the election to Traian Basescu, who is still Romania's president.

Nastase still faces other corruption charges. In December 2011, Romania's Supreme Court had found Nastase innocent in another case, where he was charged for bribing Ioan Melinescu, the former head of the country's anti-money laundering agency, to stop a probe into his wife's bank account, where he allegedly hid a bribe of about $400,000.

"There is no evidence against me and I will appeal the court's decision," Nastase said in a phone interview to Realitatea TV, a private television station in Bucharest. "This is an attempt to keep me away from the political life."

The EU has repeatedly raised concerns about a failure to tackle corruption in Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria, its two newest and poorest members which have been blocked from joining the passport-free Schengen zone over the issue.

Nastase, who was a prime minister in a leftist government in 2000-2004, remains a senior politician in the opposition USL alliance.

"In time it will be shown that this entire process had political motivations behind it," Nastase told a news conference. "The court's decision clearly has political factors in it."

Analysts say many state sector jobs have been created for party supporters. Romanians have staged nationwide demonstrations against the government and its austerity measures this month in protest against perceived corruption among politicians.

Sending a strong signal that Romania is getting serious on corruption, the conviction is a landmark in the graft-prone European Union country that has prosecuted few senior officials.

Analysts however point out that while prosecutors have convicted some lawmakers, sentences are suspended or they remain free pending a long appeal process.