site.btaRomanian Ex-Minister Extradition Case Adjourned for June

The Sofia Appellate Court on Wednesday adjourned its hearing in an extradition case of Romania's former Tourism Minister Elena Udrea until June 1. One of the defendant's lawyers asked that the Romanian authorities send all court decisions and documents on the basis of which a European Arrest Warrant for Udrea had been issued. If the dispatch is delayed, the next court hearing will take place on June 8.

Udrea's defence argued that it is unclear whether one of the Romanian judges, who ruled in their client's case, have been sworn in as a judge and insisted that this circumstance should be checked.

The Sofia Appellate Court stressed that, by force of a judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU, it is bound to check the allegations made by the arrested person and her arguments that her right to fair trial in Romania had been infringed. 

This is the second adjournment of the ex-minister's extradition case in the Appellate Court after May 10, when a defence lawyer did not appear due to a medical problem and Udrea asked the court to consider new evidence.

Udrea, 48, who was minister of regional development and tourism from 2009 to 2012, is under a six years' enforceable prison sentence in Romania for accepting over RON 12 million and EUR 1.1 million in bribes from several companies for a series of actions intended to obtain an undue benefit.

She was detained on April 7 by the Bulgarian Border Police as she attempted to cross by car into Greece through the Kulata Checkpoint.

On April 13, the Blagoevgrad District Court approved her surrender to the Romanian authorities in execution of a European Arrest Warrant issued by a court in Bucharest on April 7, 2022. She appealed the court ruling before the Sofia Appellate Court.