Romania's Supreme Court has confirmed that former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase will serve a two-year prison sentence for corruption, in a landmark ruling for antigraft efforts in the new EU member.
Nastase, a leftist prime minister from 2000 to 2004, becomes the highest figure to be jailed since the fall of communism.
Prosecutors said $2 million was missing from the 2004 budget when profits from an event organized by a state construction watchdog were diverted to Nastase's presidential campaign.
Nastase lost the election to the current president, Traian Basescu.
He remains a key figure in the governing USL alliance, which brought down Basescu's center-right party in a no-confidence vote in April.
The current prime minister, Victor Ponta, a protegee of Nastase's, is currently under pressure to resign amid accusations of plagiarism.
Nastase, a leftist prime minister from 2000 to 2004, becomes the highest figure to be jailed since the fall of communism.
Prosecutors said $2 million was missing from the 2004 budget when profits from an event organized by a state construction watchdog were diverted to Nastase's presidential campaign.
Nastase lost the election to the current president, Traian Basescu.
He remains a key figure in the governing USL alliance, which brought down Basescu's center-right party in a no-confidence vote in April.
The current prime minister, Victor Ponta, a protegee of Nastase's, is currently under pressure to resign amid accusations of plagiarism.
