Romania’s high court rejects ex-minister Elena Udrea’s challenge to six-year prison sentence

Former tourism minister Elena Udrea will remain in prison after the High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected her challenge to the six-year sentence she received about a year ago, Hotnews.ro reported.

Udrea, one of the most powerful women in Romania during the mandate of former president Traian Basescu, was sentenced to six years in prison in early April 2022for bribery and abuse of office. She left the country before the court ruling and was caught in Bulgaria, where she was detained for more than two months until a Bulgarian court cleared her extradition.

She was sentenced in a corruption case nicknamed "the Bute Gala." The case is related to a boxing gala held in Bucharest in 2011, which featured a world title match between Romanian champion Lucian Bute and French boxer Jean-Paul Mendy. Elena Udrea was indicted and then sentenced for illegally approving the boxing gala's financing by the Tourism Ministry to have her name associated with this event and get electoral benefits.

Elena Udrea tried several legal ways to end her detention, and the challenge rejected by the High Court on March 20 is final. She is serving the sentence at the Târgșorul Nou women's penitentiary.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)