Romanian security chief Lucian Pahonțu rejects accusations of involvement in communist-era suppression

Lucian Pahonțu, the longtime head of the Protection and Guard Service (SPP) and alleged backroom political powerbroker, rejectedthe findings of a journalistic investigation regarding his involvement in the suppression of the anti-communist December 1989 Revolution and the protests during the June 1990 Mineriad.

In a series of clarifications made on Monday, August 31, Pahonțu claimed that he did not participate in violence against protesters and that the statements concerning him are untrue and unfounded. “My position is simple: I have never carried out activities aimed at violating or restricting fundamental rights and freedoms and which could be classified as acts of ‘political police’,” he said, cited by Digi24.