Romanian High Court sends 1989 Revolution case to Court of Appeal

Romania’s High Court (ICCJ) decided to send the so-called 1989 Revolution case to the Court of Appeal on February 24, as it ruled it does not have jurisdiction over the case, Wall-street.ro reported.

This is only the latest transfer of the file involving former President Ion Iliescu – allegedly the mastermind behind the unjustified crimes that took place after Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown on December 22, 1989, and December 30 the same year when new authorities were set in place. During the 8-day period, when the country was managed by an interim body headed by Ion Iliescu, 857 people died, 2,382 people were severely injured, and much more were ill-treated even under the wartime regulations on the grounds that they were “terrorists”.

The 1989 Revolution file was reopened in 2016 by the acting general prosecutor Bogdan Licu. In 2019, Augustin Lazăr, general prosecutor, sent Iliescu, Gelu Voican Voiculescu and Iosif Rus, the head of the Military Aviation, to court.

The file suffered from a fundamental flaw, as shown by Europa Libera Romania: the Securitate was exempted from any responsibility. Even so, the file was sent during the four years since 2019 among the main courts of Romania on various grounds.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)