BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s most powerful politician was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years in prison for official misconduct in a graft case. The jail time for Liviu Dragnea, party leader of the ruling Social Democrats, came after a conviction last year for having two party members paid by a public agency for fake jobs. Dragnea, already blocked from being Romania’s prime minister because of a 2016 conviction for vote-rigging, was expected to be imprisoned within 24 hours. Dan Barna, chairman of the opposition Save Romania Union party, welcomed the court ruling, which had been delayed for months after Dragnea appealed the June 2018 conviction. “Today’s ruling ends the Dragnea era, one of the darkest over the last 30 years,” Barna said in a Facebook post.

Source: National Post May 27, 2019 11:39 UTC