A former National Anticorruption Center officer was found guilty of asking and receiving a €100,000 bribe. He was given 3 years and 6 months in a semi-closed prison, following court proceedings that lasted 6 years.
The court heard that the officer had asked the exorbitant bribe from a person of interest to the NAC, the president of the National Basketball Federation at the time, so that charges against him be dropped. On February 24, 2016, the officer met with the suspect and received the money.
Nevertheless, the suspect was shortly arrested and subsequently indicted. In June of that year, the suspect reported the officer. After an investigation that lasted 3 months followed court proceedings and the trial proper that lasted another six years.
The officer pleaded not guilty.
In addition to the prison term, the court ruled that the convicted officer owes the government €100,000.
The ruling may be appealed within 15 days.
Commenting on the sentence in a Facebook post, Anticorruption Chief Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin said: “this is what will happen to any law enforcement officer who will ask and extort money claiming he or she is able to influence the course of justice”.
