Ioan Avram Muresan, a former agriculture minister in Romania, has been recently sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzlement. The decision came from Romania's High Court of Justice and was made by a team of three judges. Although the decision can still be appealed in court, it is a first in Romania, Muresan being the first minister ever to be sentenced to jail.

Other ministers and a former prime minister are currently being investigated in cases which have lasted for years. Muresan's trial took eight years. He has been accused of having signed several papers allowing for 5,000 tonnes of oil to be taken out of the state's reserves and given as a loan to a company in Constanta county, in 1999 and 2000. According to prosecutors, the minister hasn't asked for the legal guarantees for the loan. Muresan and two other individuals in the Agriculture minister at the time are also accused of having changed the use of funds, resulting in a loss of around EUR 700,000 for the ministry.

editor@romania-insider.com