The punishment received by a deputy, after he was caught for drink driving. “I chose to own my mistake” / It is subject to several restrictions
The High Court of Cassation and Justice decided on Thursday to sentence deputy Andrei Csillag, former member of the Young People's Party, to 8 months in prison with suspension. The decision is not final. In a reaction on Facebook, the deputy details the incident claiming that he was discovered drunk driving the day after attending a party.
In addition to the 8-month suspended prison sentence, the judges imposed on deputy Andrei Sillaghi to comply with a supervision program for 2 years, during which he must follow a social reintegration program and perform 60 days of community service, according to the Supreme Court minutes. As a complementary punishment, the judges banned MP Csillag from driving cars for a year.
The decision of the supreme court can be appealed within 10 days of communication.
Shortly after the sentencing, Andrei Csillag explained in a post on Facebook how he was caught by the police while driving drunk.
“On the evening of July 13, I consumed alcohol, and later I correctly chose not to drive, using a transport service. The next day, on July 14, after a rest period that turned out to be insufficient, I was stopped in traffic and tested, the result indicating a value of 0.45 mg/l of pure alcohol in the exhaled air. I mention that, in Romania, the limit above which a criminal case is drawn up is 0.40 mg/l of pure alcohol in exhaled air. These values clearly show the reality of the situation and contradict the malicious rumors, probably used as a political weapon, according to which I got behind the wheel while drunk,” explained the deputy.
“I chose to appear before the court”
Csillag states that after that incident he chose “the right path” and that he cooperated fully with the authorities.
“The fact that this solution came quickly, in contrast to what we often see, is due to a firm decision: I refused to resort to tricks or strategies designed to delay the process, practices unfortunately sometimes associated with the status of a parliamentarian. I entered politics to help correct a system that needs fairness and accountability. It would have been profoundly hypocritical for me, at a personally difficult time, to try to use that system to my own advantage. I chose instead to stand before to the court, to accept my mistake and, now, to accept the consequences of the decision”, concluded deputy Csillag.
Originally from Bistrita-Năsăud, Andrei Csillag was elected on the POT lists, a party he was part of until May 2025. He currently holds the position of executive president of the UNIT party.
Csillag is the second parliamentarian elected on the POT lists to be convicted during his mandate. Last June, Senator Ciprian Pintea was sentenced to 1 year and 5 months in prison for driving without a license.
