Monica Maria Iacob Ridzi (born 30 June 1977 in

Petroșani Petroșani (; Hungarian: ''Petrozsény''; German: ''Petroschen'') is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 31,044 as of 2021. The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century. History "Pietros" m ...

) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n politician. She was the head of the youth wing of the Democratic Liberal Party, and a representative in the

Chamber of Deputies of Romania The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 312 regular seats to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote using party-list proportional representation to serve four-year terms. Additionally, ...

since 2008. She is a former member of the Boc cabinet, and was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

during 2007–2008. In February 2015, she received a 5-year prison sentence for abuse of office in relation to the 2009 Youth Day. On December 3, 2015, President

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

rejected Ridzi's pardon plea. In December 2017, she was released from prison, after spending nearly three years incarcerated.

Political career

She became an MEP on 1 January 2007 with the accession of Romania to the European Union, and like other members of the Democratic Liberal Party she was part of the

European People's Party–European Democrats The European People's Party Group (EPP Group or simply EPP) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of Member of the European Parliament, deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometime ...

. On 22 December 2008, she was appointed the head of the newly re-founded Ministry of Youth and Sport in the Boc Cabinet. She resigned on 14 July 2009, after being investigated by a parliamentary commission regarding the possible

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

of money spent by the Ministry she was running on the Youth Day festivities.Deputies approved the penal investigation against former Youth minister Monica Iacob Ridzi

References

External links

(Former) MEP ProfileEuropean Parliament official photo
1977 births Living people People from Petroșani Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) 21st-century Romanian women politicians Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) MEPs Women MEPs for Romania MEPs for Romania 2007 MEPs for Romania 2007–2009 Romanian politicians convicted of corruption Prisoners and detainees of Romania Romanian prisoners and detainees Romanian women in business {{Romania-MEP-stub

Political career

See also

References

External links