Court takes up rehabilitation request filed by disgraced politician Adrian Nastase

The Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation on Tuesday agreed to take up a rehabilitation request filed by former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase in an attempt to get rid of several bans received after he was released on parole in August 2014, agerpres reports.

The former prime minister was released on parole in August 2014 after serving a total of four and a half years in two cases: Zambaccian and Quality Trophy. After he was released on parole, the courts set a series of bans on him, including the right to run for public office.

Nastase was sentenced on June 20, 2012 to two years in prison in the Quality Trophy case, of which he served eight months in detention before being released on parole.

Subsequently, on January 6, 2014, he was sentenced by the Supreme Court to four years in prison for bribery and three years for blackmail in the Zambaccian case and was released in August 2014.

In the Zambaccian case, Nastase was accused of receiving from former head of the State Inspectorate for Construction Irina Jianu, between 2002 and 2004, directly and through his wife, Dana Nastase, undue benefits to the amount of approximately 600,000 euros, consisting of goods imported from China and the value of works performed on his buildings in Cornu and Bucharest.

In the second case, Nastase was accused of using the "influence or authority of a party leader" in 2004 to organise a symposium called "Construction Quality Trophy" in order to raise money for his presidential bid.