The magistrates of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) on Monday decided to extend Elena Udrea’s remand measure with 30 days in Gala Bute case following the request made by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors’ on Friday .
In the same case, DNA has asked for the extension of the preventive measure in the vase of other defendants: Rudel Obreja and Tudor Breazu (preventive arrest), Stefan Lungu and Gheorghe Nastasia (house arrest).
Elena Udrea spent almost 8 hours before the ICCJ judges . She told magistrates that prosecutors’ charges contain no legal basis.
“She talked for an hour and tried to cancel the prosecutors’ charges and to show that there’s no legal reason to be arrested. I asked from the DNA the audio-video recordings of confrontations to convince you of that the truth belongs to Elena Udrea,” said Marius Striblea, Elena Udrea’s lawyer.
The ex-Minister of Regional Development and Tourism was arrested in the case on 25 February and her warrant expires on 26 March.
In the Gala Bute case, Elena Udrea was initially charged with abuse of office, attempted use of false, inaccurate or incomplete documents or declarations for unjustly obtaining funds from the budget of the European Union, use of influence for deriving undue benefits and bribe-taking. Afterwards, DNA charged her on three more counts of bribe-taking.
On Thursday, Elena Udrea was confronted with the people who had denounced her in the Gala Bute case for seven hours. The DNA prosecutors approved her request and Udrea obtained a confrontation with the people who had initially been close to her and then told on her: Stefan Lungu, Gheorghe Nastasia, Adrian Gardean and Ana Maria Topoliceanu.
Ruxandra Dragomir, support message before Court decision
Ruxandra Dragomir posted a message on Facebook before the Court decision: ‘Elena, you are not alone! Today, at 12:00, for the thousandth time, Elena will appear again before the High Court. The Udrea’s ‘posters’ subject has intoxicated the public space through news channels. I have already said there is no connection between the people who posted messages online for PDL and Gala Bute. Following her confrontation with the denouncers, the prosecutors were unable to demonstrate that Elena took one single leu in that affair and they now want to push the case in a different direction.
I don’t know exactly how the ‘posters’ operate, but I suspect that absolutely all parties in Romania use such ‘weapons’ in election campaigns or at tensed moments. The calumnious and injurious comments made against me on this page and on other social media pages or even on my private phone every day are good enough reasons for me to believe that.
I also strongly believe that justice should be dispensed in the courtroom and not on TV screens. This is why I hope and I am convinced that today, 23 March, the judges will find the courage to ignore the ‘posters’ subject which has nothing to do with the case and judge with decency and responsibility Elena Udrea’s case’, Ruxandra Dragomir states in Facebook.
