Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu's mandate will be suspended, as the Bucharest Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against the 30-day preventive arrest. The decision is final, reports local Agerpres.

Oprescu, who is under investigation for taking bribes, was taken into custody on Saturday night (September 5) and was placed under preventive arrest on September 7, following a ruling of the Bucharest Court. The mayor appealed Bucharest Court’s decision.

According to the National Anticorruption Directorate DNA, Sorin Oprescu was part of a very well organized group within the public administration that asked companies to pay bribes in order to get public contracts from various authorities subordinated to Bucharest’s City Hall.

Sorin Oprescu, who is one of the most influential politicians in Romania, was first elected the mayor of Bucharest in 2008. He was then reelected in 2012.

Bucharest’s mayor Sorin Oprescu, arrested for bribery.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com