Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
→Trial: Re-add the reference with new link |
||
| (9 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
Line 7:
*Attempting to flee the country using over $1 billion deposited in foreign banks.|image=[[File:Crop-Nicolae Ceaucescu 1978.jpg|110px]] [[File:Elena Ceausescu.jpg|110px]]|Image_Caption=Nicolae Ceaușescu (left), President of the [[Socialist Republic of Romania]] from 1974, also General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party since 1965, and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (right), were executed following trial on 25 December 1989.|name=Trial of the Ceaușescus|sentence=[[Capital punishment in Romania|Death]]|convicted=Nicolae Ceaușescu and Elena Ceaușescu|date=25 December 1989}}
'''The trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu''' were held on 25 December 1989 in [[Târgoviște]], [[Romania]].
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"/>
Line 35:
==Trial==
{{Infobox court case
|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 |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" />
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 offence-name or [[hearsay]], to criminal acts they had committed in the opinion of prosecutors, or as alleged in press reports.{{clarify|date=January 2020}} Various irregularities presented themselves, or became apparent after the trial:<ref name=impreuna>{{cite web |first=Grigore |last=Cartianu |title=Nicolae si Elena Ceausescu: 'Impreuna am luptat, sa murim impreuna!' |trans-title=Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu: 'Together we fought, let us die together!' |website=adevarul.ro |date=19 December 2009 |url=https://adevarul.ro/news/societate/nicolae-elena-ceausescu-Impreuna-luptat-murim-impreuna-1_50ad82ad7c42d5a663967ee4/index.html |language=ro |access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=ceausescustenogram />
* 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 |last=Antoniu |first=Gabriela |title=Interviu integral – "Marius Tucă Show". Gen. C-tin Lucescu, despre procesul Ceauşeştilor: Nu a existat niciun fel de dosar. Nu am ştiut nici eu, nici procurorul |trans-title=Full interview
* 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 billion in foreign [[bank account]]s. No such accounts have ever been found.<ref name=impreuna/><ref name=ceausescustenogram />
* 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 |website=Avocat Marian Roșca |date=20 October 2012 |url=http://www.avoconsult.ro/procese-cazuri-celebre-procesul-sotilor-ceausescu-aspecte-de-teorie-si-practica-judiciara-cel-mai-controversat-proces-romanesc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020020554/http://www.avoconsult.ro/procese-cazuri-celebre-procesul-sotilor-ceausescu-aspecte-de-teorie-si-practica-judiciara-cel-mai-controversat-proces-romanesc.html |archive-date=20 October 2012 |url-status=dead |language=ro |access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref>
Line 82 ⟶ 112:
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Adam |last=Burakovski |lang=ro |trans-title=Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship,
==External links==
| |||