Arrest upgrade: Former Romanian minister wants to pay for her cell renovation

Former Tourism Minister and presidential adviser Elena Udrea, currently under preventive arrest at the Bucharest Police in several counts of influence peddling, wants to renovate her cell. The MP, known for her expensive taste in clothes, bags and shoes, has submitted an unusual request: she wants to be allowed to pay for having her cell walls, bars and radiator painted, the furniture replaced, and walls papered. Udrea, who has been under arrest since February 10 and who will serve 30 days, wants to benefit from the donation law and have all the revamping done with her own funds. After the first night in the Bucharest Police arrest, she was ‘appalled’ by the conditions, including by the dirty toilets, according to Romanian media. The chief of the Bucharest Police Arrest facility will analyze her request next week. European Court of Human Rights orders Romanian Government to pay prisoners EUR 13,000 for inhuman prison conditions Udrea is being prosecuted for allegedly asking for and receiving EUR 500,000 in the Microsoft licenses case and in the e-Romania project. More about her case here.Her former husband Dorin Cocos, also under arrest, is believed to have received a EUR 9 million bribe, and to having used his wife, then a Tourism Minister, as the influence trader. Throughout her political career, Udrea has been showing off her expensive taste, wearing clothes, shoes and bags from some of the most expensive luxury brands in the world. Romanian cabinet member Elena Udrea boldly poses for fashion magazine International media writes about Romanian minister Udrea’s expensive D&G dress International media writes about Elena Udrea’s batch of high heeled shoes for flood victims editor@romania-insider.com