Former minister of Communications, Gabriel Sandu has asked magistrates on Wednesday to release him on parole. He is serving jail time in the “Microsoft” file.
The former minister says the past three years in prison have been “extreme ordeal” for him.
“The past three years have been extreme ordeal, with every winter in the penitentiary. I have a 5-year-old son. I have worked for 200 days, have waken up at 5 a.m. every morning to go to work. I have been participated in all the activities in the penitentiary. My family and my children need me too much,” Sandu told the judges from the District 4 court.
His lawyer argued that Gabriel Sandu meets all conditions to be released on parole, while asking for clemency.
“Mr. Sandu is in a delicate position. He has a 5-year-old whom he hasn’t seen since he got in, he could not communicate with the child. Practically, the child doesn’t know his father, as he was too young when his father was imprisoned. On these grounds, Gabriel Sandu considers he deserves clemency to be able to support his family,” the former minister’s defender argued.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice sentenced Gabriel Sandu to three years in prison in the Microsoft file in October last year. Businessmen Dorin Cocos and Nicolae Dumitru and former mayor of Neamt Gheorghe Stefan were also sentenced to prison in the same case. Gabriel Sandu is the only defendant in the Microsoft file who is still behind bars, as the other three have been released on parole.