Fugitive former Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu detained in Greece again

Sorin Oprescu, the former mayor of Bucharest, sentenced to almost 11 years in prison for corruption in 2022, has been detained in Greece last week. The fugitive politician was detained before, but Greek authorities refused extradition.

Oprescu, 73, is wanted in Romania for forming an organized criminal group, accepting bribes, and money laundering. As such, his name is featured on an international wanted list. He was detained in Thessaloniki over the weekend.

Back in 2022, Greek authorities detained Oprescu, but he was released on bail of EUR 5,000 pending the review of the extradition request. In July, the Athens Court of Appeal decided against his extradition, citing detention conditions in Romania.

The process was recently resumed by Romanian prosecutors, who claim detention conditions have improved, and officers from both countries launched an operation to locate Oprescu once again.

The former mayor appeared before a judge in Greece on Monday, October 6, and declared he wished to remain in the country. He was then provisionally released under judicial control. Approached by journalists after appearing in court, Sorin Oprescu said that his case is politically motivated and hinted at a poor state of health, according to Adevarul.

On the other side, Romanian authorities say extradition procedures are moving forward. “Legal procedures are underway for the execution of the European arrest warrant, and depending on the decision of the Greek judicial authorities, the person will be handed over to Romanian authorities,” Bucharest Police stated.

In 2015, the former mayor of the capital was caught in the act while receiving EUR 25,000 from the former head of the Bucharest Cemetery Administration. He reportedly led a group that intended to appropriate funds from the Bucharest City Hall.

If Sorin Oprescu is extradited and imprisoned in Romania, he could serve only two-thirds of his sentence due to his age.

Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu noted that Romania offers detention conditions on par with the European standard at the moment.

“Since Romania’s last request, two rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union have been issued, which, in our view, support our current request for the handover of Mr. Oprescu. [...] We believe that, at this moment, the detention conditions offered by Romania are at European standards and that the impediment previously considered by the Greek authorities has disappeared,” Marinescu said, cited by