Former PM Adrian Nastase, first time in public after being taken to jail

After a peak in media attention at the end of June, when former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase tried to kill himself when being taken to jail and a slower period after he was finally put in jail, he is back in the spotlight. The former PM appeared in front of the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Wednesday (July 25 ). This was the first time he had appeared in public since being incarcerated at the end of June.

The court had to decide on the appeal of the decision to take Nastase to prison from the hospital, where he was admitted after the attempted suicide. Meanwhile, the former PM withdrew his appeal, saying the decision was already enforced. Nastase was taken to the Rahova prison at the end of June, six days after being admitted to hospital with neck injuries after shooting himself. His lawyers are now asking for the six days in hospital to be considered jail time as well. The former PM, who also suffers from heart problems, was transferred to the Jilava prison on medical grounds, as the Jilava prison hospital is better equipped to deal with heart patients. Nastase was sentenced to two years in jail in a corruption case. He was convicted for his involvement in illegal fund raising for the 2004 elections campaign, when Nastase was the presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party (PSD). editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: ProTV screen capture)