Former Romanian prime minister shoots himself "I spoke to him after the court ruling and he was calm and responsible," Cazacu added. Nastase, who will be 62 on Friday, has insisted that the case against him is politically motivated and indicated he will take it to the European Court of Human Rights. He has claimed that the sentence was unjust, and that his exhausting eight-year-trial felt like a prison sentence of its own. Nastase would follow into the record books Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was arrested, briefly imprisoned tried and then executed by firing squad with his wife Elena in 1989 after 25 years as president. Nastase was prime minister from 2000 to 2004 and headed the Social Democracy Party from 2000 to 2005. He also served as foreign minister from 1990 to 1992, and was also parliamentary speaker. As the news of the high court ruling broke, some Romanians rejoiced at the imprisonment of such a powerful figure, while others said they were dumbfounded. "Of course, until the end of his life Nastase will say it is an injustice, but it is a landmark in Romanian legal history," journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu said. (That) people who appear to be demigods can actually be sent to prison. Judges found Nastase guilty of using fees that he charged companies and state agencies to attend a conference for his unsuccessful 2004 run for the presidency. Nastase lost the run-off vote to President Traian Basescu. According to a 2011 Transparency International report, Romania is one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union, which it joined in 2007. The EU has urged it to crack down on endemic corruption, particularly in the legal system, which has been criticised for being under political influence.