Lower House Legal Committee greenlights prosecution of Elena Udrea

The Chamber of Deputies Law Committee approved by a vote of 20 to one, one abstention and one canceled vote the request of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) for the start of the prosecution of deputy Elena Udrea in the Bute Boxing Gala case, Committee president Bogdan Ciuca announced.

Photo credit: (c) Grigore POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Just shortly before, deputy Udrea had declared that she would ask her fellow lawmakers to approve DNA's request.

"I will in no case recant the support I have given for 10 years for judiciary independence, for a judiciary that should work for everybody, regardless of whether they are ministers, ex-ministers, or MPs. I will therefore ask the colleagues in the Law Committee to do what is necessary in any such situation and give their approval for DNA's request to then get a favorable vote in the plenary sitting," Udrea said on Wednesday before the start of the Law Committee's closed-doors sitting that was to examine DNA's request.

DNA asked for the start of prosecution proceedings against deputy and former Minister of Regional Development and Tourism Elena Udrea on counts of abuse of power and attempt to use fake documents, the submission of inaccurate, incomplete or false statements aimed at unduly accessing funding from the EU budget, and graft.

According to a Monday DNA release, the deeds under the spotlight are connected to the supposedly illegal award and use, between 2010 ? 2012, of funds under the management of the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism for the Bute Boxing Gala. AGERPRES