|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| Former Romanian Minister Locked Away for Corruption |
| (2012-05-29) |
| Last updated: 2012-05-30 13:31 EET |
It took nearly 9 years of investigations and hearings for the Romanian justice system to conclude the court trial of former Agriculture Minister Ioan Avram Muresan. It took nearly 9 years for a high-ranking official to be sentenced to prison for corruption.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice has issued a 7-year imprisonment ruling for Muresan, in a case where he stood trial for abuse of office, embezzlement and intellectual fraud. He was brought to court in 1999 after the US Agency for International Development had called Muresan to account for a sum of money shelled out to build granaries.
In 1999 Muresan held the agriculture portfolio in the ruling Democratic Convention.The legal case against him remained closed for a long time, even when the Social-Democrats came to power in 2000. The case was brought against Muresan only in 2003, when the anti-corruption department of the General Prosecutor’s office was set up. Ioan Avram Muresan got another 3-year incarceration sentence for acting as a go-between in a bribery case, which also involvied another former Agriculture Minister, Decebal Traian Remes, although the ruling was not final.
In July, the European Commission is to make public its latest report on progress made in the Romanian judiciary, as part of the mechanism for cooperation and verification. Former reports highlighted legal progress and the efforts of the Anticorruption Directorate to rid public institutions of corrupt public servants and officials. Conversely, the Commission condemned the low number of convictions among high-ranking officials. But this trend seems to have taken a different turn in 2012.
In the first five months of the year, the number of people convicted in court cases handled by the National Anti-corruption Directorate is comparably higher than in 2011. Gabriela Balaban from the Directorate’s press office has more details:
Gabriela Balaban: “Since the beginning of the year we’ve had 82 final rulings against a total of 366 defendants. As regards the number of convictions, we must note that an additional 68 people have received convictions this year as compared to 2011, among whom an MP, two magistrates, one state secretary, six lawyers and six judicial police officers”.
Those figures may weigh heavily on the European Commission’s forthcoming assessment. The numbers of convictions may very well swell if the Supreme Court decides to convict high-ranking officials such as former Social-Democrat PM Adrian Nastase, Social-Democrat senator Catalin Voicu or former High Court of Cassation and Justice judge Florin Costiniu.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
| |
© 1999 - 2011 Copyright Radio Romania International |
|
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again