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{{Short description|
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox event|partof=Romanian Revolution|charges=*Genocide – over 60,000 victims
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*Destruction of public property by destroying and damaging buildings, explosions in cities, etc.
*Undermining the national economy.
*Attempting to flee the country using over $1
'''The trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu'''
Nevertheless, the charges did not affect the trial. General [[Victor Stănculescu]] had brought with him a specially selected team of [[paratroopers]] from a [[crack troops|crack regiment]], handpicked earlier in the morning to act as a [[firing squad]]. Before the legal proceedings began, Stănculescu had already selected the spot where the execution would take place: along one side of the wall in the [[barracks]]' square.<ref name="Burakovski273"/>
Nicolae Ceaușescu refused to recognize the [[tribunal]], arguing its lack of constitutional basis and claiming that the revolutionary authorities were part of a Soviet plot.<ref name="Burakovski273"/> His refusal to recognize the tribunal did not prevent the firing squad from carrying out the sentence immediately, on the same day as the trial.
==Arrest==
On 22 December 1989, during the [[Romanian Revolution]], Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu left the Central Committee building in Bucharest by helicopter toward [[Snagov]], from
==Creation of the tribunal==
As the new authorities heard the news of their apprehending from General Andrei Kemenici, the commander of the army unit, they began to discuss what to do with the Ceaușescus.<ref name="Burakovski273" /> [[Victor Stănculescu]], who was Ceaușescu's last [[
During the evening of 24 December 1989, Stănculescu sent the secret code "recourse to the method" to Kemenici, referring to the execution of the Ceaușescus. A ten-member tribunal was formed to try the case.<ref>{{cite
''[[The Independent]]'' characterized the trial as "what can best be described as an egregiously conducted [[summary trial]], at worst a [[kangaroo court]]".<ref name="The Independent 2019">{{cite web |
==Charges==
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* Offence of destruction of public property by destroying and damaging buildings, explosions in cities, etc.
* Undermining the national economy.
* Trying to flee the country using over $1
==Counsel for the defence==
The morning of the trial, prominent lawyer
==Trial==
{{Infobox court case
The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was very brief, lasting approximately one hour.<ref name="Biography 2017">{{cite web | title=Nicolae Ceausescu | website=Biography | date=28 April 2017 | url=https://www.biography.com/political-figure/nicolae-ceausescu | access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-elsner/trial-and-execution-the-d_b_401497.html|title=Trial and Execution: The Dramatic Deaths of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu|first=Alan|last=Elsner|website=[[HuffPost]] |date=22 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="NPR.org 2014">{{cite web | first=Soraya | last=Sarhaddi Nelson | title=25 Years After Death, A Dictator Still Casts A Shadow in Romania | publisher=NPR | date=24 December 2014 | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/24/369593135/25-years-after-death-a-dictator-still-casts-a-shadow-in-romania | access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref> Ceaușescu defended himself by arguing that the tribunal was against the [[1965 Constitution of Romania]] and that only the [[Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of Romania)|Great National Assembly]] had the power to depose him. He argued that it was a ''[[coup d'état]]'' organized by the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]].<ref name="Burakovski273" />▼
|name = Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu
|court = Exceptional Military Tribunal, a [[drumhead court-martial]] created at the request of a newly formed group called the [[National Salvation Front (Romania)|National Salvation Front]]
|image =
|imagesize =
|imagealt =
|caption =
|full name =
|date decided = 25 December 1989
|verdict=
Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were convicted of all charges and condemned to death
|charge=The main charge was [[genocide]].
|citations =
|ECLI =
|transcripts =
|judges = [[Victor Stănculescu]]
|number of judges =
|decision by =
|concurring =
|dissenting =
|concur/dissent =
|prior actions =
|appealed from =
|appealed to =
|subsequent actions =
|related actions =
|opinions =
|keywords = <!-- {{Hlist|...}} -->
|italic title = no
}}
▲At 5:30 a.m. on 25 December, the two were taken by an [[armoured personnel carrier]] to the garrison command office where the trial would take place. After the medical visits, they were brought into the improvised courtroom.<ref name="TVR">{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/HQVhRMp6MAUA8A?hl=en |title=Trial and Execution |work=[[Google Arts & Culture]] |author=[[TVR (TV network)|TVR]]|access-date=15 December 2023}}</ref> The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was very brief, lasting approximately one hour.<ref name="Biography 2017">{{cite web |
Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were convicted of all charges and condemned to death in what amounted to a [[show trial]].<ref name=impreuna /> At one point, their forcibly-assigned lawyers abandoned their clients' [[legal defense|defence]] and joined with the [[prosecutor]], accusing them of [[capital crime]]s instead of defending them.<ref name=ceausescustenogram>[[:s:ro:Stenograma procesului Ceaușescu]], translated at [[:s:Transcript of the closed trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu]].</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2024}} No [[offer of proof]] was made for the Ceaușescus' alleged crimes. They were tried based on references, solely by
* The trial was held immediately, without a prior [[criminal investigation]].<ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012"/>
* The suspects could not choose their own lawyers.<ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012"/>
* The court did not attempt to find and prove the truth.<ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012"/> There was no file of evidence presented to the court.<ref name="Antoniu 2019">{{cite web |
* An accusation of genocide was never proven. Four top Ceaușescu aides later admitted complicity in genocide in 1990.<ref name="reuters1990" /> [[Pro TV]] stated that there were 860 people killed after 22 December 1989 (i.e. when the dictatorial couple was no longer in charge).<ref>{{youTube|
* The Ceaușescus were accused of having $1
* The judges' [[verdict]] allowed for [[appeal]]ing to a [[appellate court|higher court]]. The Ceaușescus were executed a few minutes after the verdict, rendering that provision moot.<ref name=impreuna/><ref name=ceausescustenogram /><ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012">{{cite web |trans-title=Trials, famous cases- The Ceausescu trial. Aspects of judicial theory and practice. The most controversial Romanian trial |title=Procese, cazuri celebre- Procesul sotilor Ceausescu. Aspecte de teorie si practica judiciara. Cel mai controversat proces romanesc |
* The
==Execution==
The Ceaușescus were executed at
The firing squad began shooting as soon as the two were in position against a wall. The execution happened too quickly for the television crew assigned to the trial and death sentence to videotape it in full; only the last round of shots was filmed. In 2014, retired Captain Boeru told a reporter for ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper that he believes that the shots he fired from his rifle were solely responsible for the deaths of both of the Ceaușescus, because, of the three soldiers in the firing squad, he was the only one who remembered to switch his [[
In 1989, Prime Minister [[Petre Roman]] told French television that the execution was carried out quickly due to
==Burial==
After the execution, the bodies were covered with canvas.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Matus |first=Victor |date=2005-12-01 |title=On the Disposal of Dictators |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/disposal-dictators |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=[[Hoover Institution]] |language=en}}</ref> The Ceaușescus' corpses were taken to Bucharest and buried in [[Ghencea Cemetery]] on
The bodies were exhumed for identification and reburied in 2010.<ref name="BBC News 2010">{{cite web |
==Release of the images==
The hasty trial and the images of the dead Ceaușescus were videotaped and the footage promptly released in numerous Western countries two days after the execution.<ref name=bbconthis>{{cite news |title=
==Reactions==
In 2009 [[Valentin Ceaușescu]], elder son of the Ceaușescus, argued that the revolutionary forces should have killed his parents when they had arrested them on 22 December since they did not need any trial.<ref name=kpost24dec>{{cite news
Several countries criticized the new rulers of Romania after the execution due to lack of public trial. The
==Aftermath==
On 1 March 1990, Colonel Gică Popa, who had presided over the trial and
In December 2018, Iliescu, former Deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu, former [[Romanian Air Force]] chief Iosif Rus, and former National Salvation Front council member Emil Dumitrescu were indicted by Romanian military prosecutors for [[crimes against humanity]] for the deaths that occurred during the Romanian Revolution, most of which took place after Ceaușescu was overthrown. The indictment also made reference to the conviction and execution of the Ceaușescus "after a mockery of a trial".<ref name="RFE/RL 2018">{{cite news |title=Romanian Ex-President Iliescu Indicted For 'Crimes Against Humanity' |website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=21 December 2018 |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-ex-president-iliescu-indicted-for-crimes-against-humanity-/29669414.html |access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref> The investigation that led to the indictments had previously been closed in 2009, but was re-opened in 2016 as the result of a trial at the European Court of Human Rights.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Luca |first1=Ana Maria |title=Romania Indicts Former Officials for Usurping 1989 Revolution |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/04/08/romania-indicts-former-officials-for-usurping-1989-revolution/ |access-date=16 April 2019 |work=Balkan Insight |date=8 April 2019}}</ref>
{{reflist}}▼
==In the arts==
Swiss theatre director [[Milo Rau]] and his International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM) wrote and produced the stage production ''[[The Last Days of the Ceausescus]]'' in 2009. The production was a re-enactment of the trial, and IIPM was able to obtain testimonies from individuals directly involved in the [[Romanian revolution]] (including dissidents, politicians, revolutionaries and ordinary Romanians) and the trial of the Ceaușescus (including the general who betrayed them, the officer who captured them, and the soldier who shot them).<ref name=lastdaysiipm>{{cite web | title=The Last Days of the Ceausescus | website=International Institute of Political Murder | date=18 December 2009 | url=https://international-institute.de/en/the-last-days-of-the-ceausescus/ | access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>
A few days before the premiere at the [[Odeon Theatre (Bucharest)|Odeon Theatre]] in [[Bucharest]]<ref name=lastdaysiipm/> in 2010, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu's son-in-law Mircea Oprean (the widower of [[Zoia Ceaușescu|Zoia]], who died in 2006), forced his way into rehearsals, saying that he and his brother-in-law [[Valentin Ceaușescu]] had registered the name "Ceaușescu" as a trademark in 2008, and it could not be used in the title. A lawsuit followed, and the director was forced to cancel the show after two performances.<ref>{{citation|title=Rumänien: Kafka grüßt die Karpaten|date=13 July 2010|url=http://www.zeit.de/2010/28/Kolumne-Rumaenien|issue=28|periodical=[[Die Zeit]]|language=German|first=Christian |last=Schmidt-Häuer| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715052457/http://www.zeit.de/2010/28/Kolumne-Rumaenien| archive-date=15 July 2010| url-status=live}}</ref>
The show then premiered at [[Hebbel am Ufer]] (HAU) in [[Berlin]], before touring Switzerland at the Schlachthaus Theater in [[Bern]], Theaterhaus Gessnerallee in [[Zurich]], and Südpol in [[Lucerne]].<ref name=lastdaysiipm/> It was also later produced at the [[Festival d'Avignon]] in France,<ref>{{cite web | title=The Last Days of the Ceaușescus by Milo Rau | website=Ashkal Alwan | url=https://www.ashkalalwan.org/program.php?category=4&id=97 | language=la | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref> and a documentary film (''Die letzten Tage der Ceausescus'') was made about it.<ref>{{imdb title|3894634|Die letzten Tage der Ceausescus}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=The Last Days Of The Ceausescus | website=dafilms.com | date=10 October 2022 | url=https://dafilms.com/film/14869-the-last-days-of-the-ceausescus | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref><ref name=interview2023>{{cite web | interviewer-last=Brînză | interviewer-first=Teia |first=Milo| last=Rau| title=Milo Rau: "Let's continue, but in another way" | website=Capital Cultural | date=30 June 2023 | url=https://capitalcultural.ro/en/milo-rau-lets-continue-but-in-another-way/ | access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>
==References==
▲{{reflist}}
* {{cite book|author=Adam Burakovski|title=Dictatura lui Nicolae Ceaușescu, 1965–1989 – Geniul Carpaților|year=2011|publisher=[[Polirom]]|isbn=978-973-46-1963-4}}▼
==Further reading==
▲* {{cite book |
==External links==
* {{wikisource-inline|Transcript of the closed trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu}}
* [https://archive.org/details/rec-0001_202010 Procesul Ceaușeștilor - caseta originală]
{{Cold War|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:History of Târgoviște]]
[[Category:Nicolae Ceaușescu]]
[[Category:Romanian
[[Category:Trials of political people]]
[[Category:Trials in Romania]]
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