Clotilde Armand sentenced to one year suspended imprisonment for abuse of office
The District 1 Court has sentenced former USR mayor Clotilde Armand to one year suspended imprisonment, with a two-year probation period.
Suspended sentence for Clotilde Armand: one year imprisonment and two years probation
The District 1 Court issued, on Wednesday, through Decision No. 861/2026, the sentencing of former USR mayor of District 1, Clotilde Armand, to one year imprisonment for committing four material acts of using office with the purpose of favouring certain persons, in continuing form. The court also ordered the suspension of execution of the penalty during a two-year probation period, calculated from the date the decision becomes final, according to Jurnalul.ro.
During the two years of probation, Armand is obliged to report to the Bucharest Probation Service on the dates set by that service and to receive visits from the probation officer assigned to supervise her. Additionally, she must notify in advance any change of address, any travel exceeding five days, as well as her return to the declared address. The former mayor is also required to communicate any change of workplace and to provide documents allowing control of her means of subsistence — all information to be transmitted to the Bucharest Probation Service.
Supplementary penalties and confiscation of 18,720 lei
Through the same decision, the court imposed on Armand a supplementary penalty consisting of the deprivation of the right to be elected to public authorities or to hold positions involving the exercise of state authority, for a period of three years. This prohibition will apply only if the suspension of execution of the main penalty is revoked or cancelled. An accessory penalty with the same content will operate under the same conditions.
The magistrates also ordered the confiscation from Clotilde Armand of the sum of 18,720 lei, representing the damage established by prosecutors in the case — sums which the former mayor allegedly awarded herself through repeated increases of her remuneration. Additionally, Armand must pay 2,000 lei representing court costs advanced by the state: 1,000 lei for the criminal investigation phase, 500 lei for the preliminary chamber and 500 lei for the trial phase.
The court explicitly warned that, in the event of non-compliance with probation measures, failure to fulfil the imposed obligations or the commission of new offences during the probation period, the suspension of execution of the penalty will be revoked, which entails actual imprisonment.
Clotilde Armand's reaction contradicts court records
Shortly after the sentence was pronounced, Clotilde Armand posted a reaction on her social media page. "Today, the District 1 Court ordered the suspension of execution of the penalty in the case regarding the alleged conflict of interest, after years of harassment through the courts in a deplorable case," she wrote. Armand added: "Let it be very clear: the court imposed today a one-year sentence, but ordered the suspension of its execution. There is no damage established in this case. Zero lei. (...). We are not talking about the execution of a prison sentence or about other nonsense from PSD rhetoric."
This statement regarding the absence of damage directly contradicts the court records, which establish the confiscation of 18,720 lei. The former mayor also claimed that "based on this decision, I have at this moment no prohibition in force regarding the right to be elected and to run." The statement is partially accurate: the three-year prohibition becomes applicable only if the suspension of the sentence is revoked. Armand is, however, already subject to a separate prohibition, pronounced through a final civil decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice from 2024, which prevents her from holding elected or appointed public positions until 2027 — a prohibition which previously prevented her from taking up her mandate as senator.
Clotilde Armand announced that she will appeal the District 1 Court decision to the Bucharest Court. The decision is not final and can be contested within ten days of notification.
The case: appointment as anti-corruption manager and repeated remuneration increases
The Office of the District 1 Court sent the case to trial in April 2024. Clotilde Armand is accused of appointing herself manager of an anti-corruption project financed by the European Union, after which she increased her own remuneration four times in her capacity as mayor of District 1.
The first instance court decision is not final and can be challenged by appeal, with the process to continue at the Bucharest Court.
Source: Jurnalul.ro