Fugitive Romanian ex-Minister Arrested in Costa Rica

Police in Costa Rica on Wednesday arrested two Romanian former officials who took refuge in the Central American country after being sentenced to jail for corruption in their country.

Elana Udrea, a former tourism and development minister from 2008 to 2012 and a former close aide to former president Traian Basescu, and a former organized crime chief prosecutor, Alina Bica, were taken into custody by the National Interpol Bureau, after Romania sent an alert in the Interpol database and an extradition request.

The Costa Rican authorities released a short video of Udrea's arrest on social media, and the Romanian police confirmed the arrests on Thursday morning.

Udrea, 44, who was seen as one of the most influential politicians in Romania before 2014, was sentenced in absentia to six years in jail June for the illegal financing of a boxing gala in 2011.

In May 2017, Udrea was indicted, also together with ex-president Basescu's eldest daughter, Ioana, for alleged illegal funding of his presidential electoral campaign in 2009. Udrea has called her indictments politically motivated.

Former organised crime chief prosecutor Bica, 44, was also handed a four-year jail sentence at the end of July for bribery and abuse of office in a real estate transaction in 2011 that was over-evaluated by 62 million euros.

Both women, who are close friends, claimed asylum in Costa Rica in February, saying they were the victims of "politically-motivated trials".

Udrea's lawyer, Veronel Radulescu, told Romanian news channel Digi 24 on Thursday that his client was currently in Interpol custody.

"The court [In Costa Rica} will not impose extradition, especially since her daughter has Costa Rican citizenship and her rights are protected by the...