Elena Udrea moves closer to conditional release

The former Minister of Justice has been sentenced to six years in prison for abuse of office and bribery in the „Gala Bute” case. Udrea is seeking to reduce her remaining sentence to account for the time she spent in detention in Costa Rica and Bulgaria. If successful, she could apply for conditional release after nearly three years of incarceration.

Currently, Elena Udrea is held at Târgșor Penitentiary, having been imprisoned since June 2022 following her extradition from Bulgaria. The court has requested additional documents from the Ministry of Justice and the Bucharest Court to assist in its decision-making process.

Udrea was convicted on April 7, 2022, for bribery and abuse of office related to the „Gala Bute” case, and she fled the country before receiving her sentence. On the day of her conviction, she was arrested at the Kulata border crossing with Greece.

The former Minister of Tourism has specifically requested a sentence reduction of 154 days, which includes 83 days served in San Jose prison in Costa Rica and 71 days in a detention center in Belgorod, Bulgaria—both related to the same conviction.

In this case, Udrea was accused of coordinating a scheme that allowed individuals close to her to receive money from commercial companies, with her knowledge, to ensure the timely payment of projects funded by the Ministry of Tourism, which she previously led. Investigators reported that the funds acquired either went directly to Udrea’s assets (in cash or for goods and services) or to the Bucharest Organization of the PDL or the former head of the Romanian Boxing Federation, Rudel Obreja.