The head of Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, has been jailed for corruption after his attempts to appeal an earlier conviction failed.<\/p>\n
Romania’s Supreme Court upheld on Monday a three-and-a-half year prison sentence against Dragnea.<\/p>\n
The politician, 56, was found guilty last year of having two party members paid by a state agency for fake jobs.<\/p>\n
The ruling came as his PSD suffered huge losses at the European elections.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said that by using his influence as a government official, Dragnea procured fake jobs at a child protection agency for two women working for his party.<\/p>\n
The women admitted to working for the party while receiving salaries from the agency.<\/p>\n
Dragnea, who denies any wrongdoing, appealed the initial verdict and was allowed to remain free.<\/p>\n
In live footage on Romanian television on Monday, the powerful politician was seen being driven in a police car into the Rahova prison on the outskirts of Bucharest.<\/p>\n
Dragnea is widely viewed as the most powerful figure in Romanian politics.<\/p>\n
He was barred from becoming prime minister because of a 2016 conviction for vote-rigging.<\/p>\n
But observers say he has still wielded power from behind the scenes, directing his PSD and the government they lead.<\/p>\n
The politician was a key figure in the PSD’s push for\u00a0controversial judicial reforms,\u00a0<\/a>which have chipped away at the independence of the courts, sparking mass protests in Romania and clashes with the European Union.<\/p>\n The ruling on Monday came as Dragnea’s PSD suffered major losses in the European election.<\/p>\n The party fell to second place, behind the opposition National Liberal party, gaining less than 23% of the vote.<\/p>\n Dragnea is also under investigation in a separate case for allegedly forming a criminal group to siphon off cash from state projects.<\/p>\n He has maintained his innocence in the cases against him, saying the charges are politically motivated.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"