The former mayor of Bucharest’s District 4, Cristian Popescu-Piedone, currently mayor of Bucharest’s District 5, was convicted, on Thursday, by the Bucharest Court of Appeals to four years imprisonment for committing the crime of abuse of office in relation to the tragedy in October 2015 at the Colectiv Club, where a fire broke out and left 64 people dead and over 100 injured.
Initially, in the lower court – the Bucharest Tribunal – Piedone was convicted to 8 years and 6 months imprisonment, but Bucharest Court of Appeals judges admitted, on Thursday, the appeal raised by the mayor and decided to reduce the sentence to 4 years imprisonment.
It is worth mentioning that during the trial, the Court of Appeals struck down the aggravated form of the crime of abuse of office that Piedone was accused of.
According to the court’s decision, Piedone was convicted to four years imprisonment for the crime of abuse of office, in relation to the authorization issued by the District Hall for the Colectiv Club, and was acquitted for another count of abuse of office.
Firemen George Matei and Antonina Radu, the two firemen with the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) that checked the Colectiv Club without taking the legal measures in regards to respecting fire safety norms, were convicted each to 8 years and 8 months imprisonment. Furthermore, the two will not be able to seek employment with the ISU or subordinated units and will be barred from holding leadership positions in public companies for a period of five years after their release.
The case also saw the conviction of the owners of the club to sentences ranging from 6 to 11 years imprisonment, as follows: Paul Gancea – 6 years and 4 month, Costin Mincu – 8 years, Alin George Anastasescu – 11 years and 8 months, Agerpres reports.
