Former Constanta mayor, sentenced to jail in Romania, captured in Madagascar

Radu Mazare, the former mayor of the Romanian seaside city of Constanta, was captured by the authorities in Madagascar, where he fled at the end of 2017 to dodge trial for corruption, according to local Mediafax. Mazare accused political pressure at that time and said he asked for political asylum in Madagascar.

The authorities in Romania and those in Madagascar are to discuss the details of his possible extradition.

The former mayor received a final sentence of nine years in prison, in February this year, in a case that targeted the illegal allocation of state-owned land along the Black Sea coast and beaches in Constanta, which caused a damage of EUR 114 million, according to anticorruption prosecutors.

Last week, Radu Mazare was also sentenced to 9 years and 10 months in another case of corruption. However, this sentence is not final and can be appealed.

Mazare served as mayor of Constanta from June 2000 until May 2015. While in office, he was best known for his eccentricities and for the parades he organized and led in the seaside resort of Mamaia dressed as a pharaoh, sultan, and even as a Nazi officer.

(Photo source:Inquam Photos / Liviu Florin Albei)