Former European Parliament lawmaker Adrian Severin was declared guilty in the crime of bribery and influence peddling by a Romanian court.
The High Court for Cassation and Justice sentenced Severin for imprisonment for three years and three months imprisonment, no parole.
Severin was one of three members caught in a hidden camera sting by British newspaper The Sunday Times, agreeing to take money in return for introducing amendments to draft EU laws in the European Parliament.
Also, he agreed to receive a proposed daily fee for each working day and had sent an invoice for 12,000 euros ($13,200).
Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate indicted Severin in September 2013, two years after allegedly agreeing to take money from fake lobbyists in exchange for influencing EU legislation.
In his capacity as a Parliamentary member, Severin accepted, between December 2010 and March 2011, the promise of two people to give him EUR 100,000 in exchange for putting down favorable amendments and voting against amendments which were not in line with the interests of the company the two people represented. The two bribers turned out to be undercover journalists.
Severin said he would appeal the ruling.
The Party of European Socialists suspended Severin in 2011. He left the Parliament in 2014.
The two other members caught by the sting were Zorah Thaler of Slovenia and Austrian Ernst Strasser of the European Peoples' Party (EPP).
Both resigned as parliamentary members while the latter was jailed in by a Viennese court for four years over the scandal.
Severin was Romania's foreign minister from 1996 to 1997.
Under the Romanian Penal Code, Crimes of corruption are bribery - giving or receiving, receiving undue advantages and influence peddling.
Under the Romanian Penal Code, giving bribe implies the promise, offering or giving money or other benefits, if the briber was not coerced in any way by the person taking the bribe. Undue advantages are situations where an official receives money or other benefits, directly or indirectly, after having completed an act falling within his job attributions.
Moreover, influence peddling is when an influent person, or one that wants to give this impression, receives or claims money or benefits, directly or indirectly, in order to determine an official to make a transaction falling within his/her job attributions.
Impunity and petty corruption are problems in Romania as irregular payments and bribes are common practice. The law does not distinguish between bribes and facilitation payments, and gifts and hospitality may be considered illegal depending on their intent and benefit obtained.
© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Get the Most Popular Lawyerherald Stories in a Weekly Newsletter
Join the Discussion
