Former RO Gendarmerie heads sent to trial in August 10 protest case

Military prosecutors have sent to trial sixteen people, including former heads of the Romanian Gendarmerie, in the case of the August 10th protest of 2018.

On August 10th, 2018, thousands gathered in Bucharest's Victoriei Square to protest against the Social-Democrat government led by Viorica Dancila. Many of them were Romanians who had settled abroad.

The protest ended violently after a brutal intervention of the riot police and the gendarmes. They used tear gas and water cannons to clear the square, with peaceful protesters and even tourists injured during the intervention.

Among the sixteen people sent to trial are Laurenţiu Cazan, who was a deputy of the general director of the General Division of the Bucharest Gendarmerie at the time of the events; Gheorghe Sebastian Cucoş, a former general inspector of the Romanian Gendarmerie's General Inspectorate, and Cătălin Sindile, who was first-deputy of the general inspector of the Romanian Gendarmerie's General Inspectorate at the time, the prosecutors announced.

The prosecutors say the actions of those sent to trial resulted in an "infringement of the right to assembly" and resulted in "physical suffering or lesions requiring in between one and 50 days of medical care for 433 people."

Some 30,000 people attended the protest, the prosecutors estimate.

The case of the August 10th protest was opened in 2018, closed by the Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in 2020, and reopened in 2021 at the Bucharest Court of Appeals.

More than 300 people who took part in the protest are requesting damages in the case.

A collection of photos and videos of the August 10 events can be found here.

Diaspora protest in Bucharest ends with violent intervention of the riot police

(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)