Former Romanian PM Nastase says jail sentence is ‘extremely unfair’, a ‘dirty revenge’

Former Romanian prime-minister Adrian Nastase (in picture), who on Monday afternoon (January 6) received his second jail sentence, four years in jail without parole, said he was not ready for such a decision, which he thinks is “extremely unfair”, and a “dirty revenge”. “It’s a terrible decision, extremely unfair. A dirty revenge, what more can I say ?,” added Nastase upon getting ready to serve his new jail term. The current Romanian prime-minister Victor Ponta also reacted to Adrian Nastase’s conviction, saying the former PM is a “political convict, a victim of the Basescu regime”. Ponta is also the president of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), a position previously held by Nastase while he was PM. “Adrian Nastase was the main target of Romanian president Traian Basescu and his acolytes, Macovei and Daniel Morar since 2005. This is an injustice,” said Ponta during a TV show at local Romania TV. Victor Ponta also compared Nastase’s situation with that of the former Ukrainian prime-minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Adrian Nastase got a second jail conviction on January 6, when the High Court of Cassation and Justice sentenced him at four years in jail without parole in the Zambaccian case, for continued bribery. His wife Dana Nastase also got a three year jail sentence without parole, for complicity to bribery, with an eight year trial period. During this period, she will be under supervision, and should she commit other crimes, she will have to serve time for both the old and new crimes. More about Nastase’s conviction here. Later that evening, after the court ruled its decision, the former prime-minister surrendered himself to a Bucharest police station. From the police station, Adrian Nastase was taken to Rahova penitentiary, where he will stay 21 days in quarantine. Within around a month, the Administration of Penitentiaries should establish his regime and place of detention. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com