The Prosecutors of the Military Section with the Prosecutor General’s Office have sent to court the lawsuit on the December 1989 Revolution file, in which Ion Iliescu, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, Iosif Rus and Emil Dumitrescu were charged with crimes against humanity, Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar has announced on Monday.
“The Military Section with the Prosecutor General’s Office upon the High Court of Cassation and Justice has submitted to court the indictment in the Revolution file. It is a special moment for the military justice and for the Romanian judiciary in general. The completion of this file represents one of the main objectives I set three years ago to solve the historic files. Today, the jurists complete this challenge, which started from the idea that the responsibility for the victims in December 1989 is not institutional, but individual,” the Prosecutor General said.
Augustin lazar said the file includes 3.330 volumes, of which 2,030 have been instrumented after June 13, 2016. For drafting the indictment was used evidence obtained after June 13, he said.
“Although the institution has passed through difficult moments lately, the team of military prosecutors has had the capability to survive and regenerate. It has succeeded in getting cooperation from several state institutions, to archives with evidence. The completing of this indictment in less than three years was possible due to institutional cooperation. I want to thank the Defence Ministry for identifying and making available archived documents, the Senate for the transcripts, CNSAS for making available the necessary information, SRI for identifying and making available archived military documents, the Interior Ministry and STS for the logistic support. More details on the indictment will be provided by a press release,” Lazar said.
Augustin Lazar has apologized on behalf of the Public Ministry for the duration of the criminal investigation of almost 30 years.
Former President Ion Iliescu was indicted in the Revolution file in December 2018, under the charge of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors have taken the same decision in the case of Gelu Voican Voiculescu.
The Prosecutor’s Office upon the High Court of Cassation and Justice has announced in a press release in December that the prosecutors with the Military prosecutor’s offices have ordered the criminal action against defendants Ion Iliescu (member and president of C.F.S.N.), Gelu Voican Voiculescu (member C.F.S.N. and former deputy PM), Iosif Rus (former commander of the Military Air Force) and Emil (Cico) Dumitrescu (former member of CFSN), for crimes against humanity.
Iliescu, “at the date of the deeds, member and chairman of the National Salvation Front Council”, was initially charged with deeds committed during December 27-31, 1989.
The National Salvation Front (CFSN) was set up on December 22, 1989, as de facto body that exerted the central executive and legislative rule until the decree of December 27, 1989, when the president of the council also gained the position as head of state, in this case, Ion Iliescu.
On the other hand, military prosecutors ordered charges to be dropped against former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, former Securitate head Vlad Iulian, against former Defence minister Vasile Milea (they are dead) and against former premier during December 1989 -1991, Petre Roman.
In Roman’s case and in the case of former TVR chief editor Teodor Brates, prosecutors argued there were no conclusive evidence regrading their involvement in committing crimes against humanity.
[…] Prosecutor General announces that the December 1989 Revolution file has been sent to court […]