Court gives ruling in Bute Gala case

Former development minister Elena Udrea receives 6-year prison sentence.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 06.06.2018, 13:46

For Elena Udrea,
a former development minister in the right-wing cabinet between 2008 and 2012,
the situation took a turn for the worse with the announcement of the final
sentence in the case known as the Bute Gala. The High Court of Cassation and
Justice sentenced her to 6 years in prison and the payment of 3 million euros
in damages. Udrea, who was indicted in April 2015, was found guilty for bribe
taking and abuse of office.

The former
president of the Romanian Boxing Federation Rudel Obreja, who was also on
trial, was sentenced to 5 years in prison, while the former economy minister
Ion Ariton was acquitted. They were accused of illegally using public funds to
finance a boxing match featuring the former boxing world champion Lucian Bute.
The other persons indicted in the case and who pleaded guilty received
suspended sentences. After hearing about the sentence, Udrea said there are
judges and prosecutors who take their orders from the Intelligence Service
generals. This is an old scenario of Udrea, according to whom the Romanian
Intelligence Service, her favourite enemy, is out to get her.

The case has
reminded people why Udrea was considered the femme fatale of Romanian politics
in her most influential days. The special relationship she had with the former
president Traian Basescu was the springboard that helped her rise up to the
position of cabinet minister. Political analysts even believed that she was the
number one in the government, ahead of the docile prime minister Emil Boc,
because of the influence she had over the former president, at a time when
Romania was struggling with the world financial and economic crisis. In those
days, between 2008 and 2012, the press was constantly writing about Udrea’s
immense influence thanks to the position she held in the government, given that
her ministry was responsible for the management of a lot of funds. The press used
to write that she had the final say in many projects, including large-scale
ones, and that her decisions generally favoured the local elected officials
who, like her, were members of the now defunct Liberal Democratic Party.

Elena Udrea has
withdrawn from politics in recent years and now lives in Costa Rica, where she
aspires to the status of political refugee. The Romanian police have requested
a European arrest warrant and an international search warrant for Udrea. This
may seem like an unfair destiny for Udrea, who recently told a Romanian
publication that she did more for the country than 99% of Romanian
politicians.