Elena Udrea’s laywer: There is “zero chance” for extradition from Costa Rica

Veronel Radulescu, Elena Udrea’s lawyer, said this morning that there is “zero chance” for his client to be extradited from Costa Rica, primarily because the country’s legislation does not allow parents and children to be separated. Elena Udrea and Alina Bica were detained last night by Interpol in Costa Rica.

“She is in the custody of Costa Rican authorities. It’s not an arrest. We can call it a temporary detainment until the legal situation is resolved. It’s possible that a preventive measure is enforced until the extradition request is settled, but we hope that this measure involves monitoring,” Radulescu said.

He added that it’s very unlikely for Elena Udrea and Alina Bica to be extradited and brought to Romania. “I have a lot of arguments for this. Elena Udrea’s daughter is a Costa Rican citizen, and the child protection laws in Costa Rica forbid the separation of parents and children. That’s why I said that there is no chance for it to happen. In the case of Alina Bica, as far as I know, she was convicted for aiding and abetting, which doesn’t correspond to a crime in the Costa Rican legislation and thus cannot be applied there. There’s also a provision in the international convention signed by Costa Rica. At the moment, the child is in the care of Udrea’s mother and her father, Adrian Alexandrov, at their home in Costa Rica,” he stated.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had said this morning that that the extradition procedure for Elena Udrea will follow the regular legal steps.

Elena Udrea was sentenced to six years in prison in the Gala Bute case for bribery and abuse in office in early June. She fled to Costa Rica in February. Two days ago, magistrates at the Bucharest court of appeal decided to impose a seizure on the assets owned by Elena Udrea to the tune of EUR 4.7 million, as part of the special forfeiture in the Hidroelectrica case, in which the former minister was indicted by the DNA for influence peddling and money laundering together with Dan Andronic.

On June 26, Alina Bica was finally sentenced by magistrates of the High Court of Cassation and Justice to four years in prison with execution in the case in which she was accused of aiding and abetting the perpetrator.