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Line 39: 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> No [[offer of proof]] was made for the Ceaușescus' alleged crimes. They were tried based on references, solely by offense-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 post-trial:<ref name=impreuna>{{cite web \| first=Grigore \| last=Cartianu \| title=Nicolae si Elena Ceausescu: Impreuna am luptat, sa murim impreuna! \| 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 were not [[psychological evaluation\|examined psychiatrically]], which was mandatory by law.<ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012"/> * The suspects could not choose their own lawyers.<ref name="Avocat Marian Roșca 2012"/> * 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\|FR7_K3I_l_4\|Stirile ProTV i️ 21 Februarie 2020 i️ ora 19 INTEGRAL}} 0:32:39</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/schimbare-in-dosarul-revolutiei-doua-ministere-ar-putea-fi-obligate-sa-acorde-despagubiri.html\|title=Schimbare în Dosarul Revoluției. Două ministere ar putea fi obligate să acorde despăgubiri\|website=Stirileprotv.ro\|date=12 June 2020}}</ref> Another source gives the figure of 306 people killed 17–22 December 1989.<ref>Valentin Marin. ''Martirii Revoluției în date statistice'' Editura Institului Revoluției Române, Bucharest, 2010, p. 22</ref>▼ * 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 \| website=Mediafax.ro \| date=27 November 2019 \| url=https://www.mediafax.ro/marius-tuca-show/interviu-integral-marius-tuca-show-gen-c-tin-lucescu-despre-procesul-ceausestilor-nu-a-existat-niciun-fel-de-dosar-nu-am-stiut-nici-eu-nici-procurorul-18621319 \| language=ro \| access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> ▲* 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\|FR7_K3I_l_4\|Stirile ProTV i️ 21 Februarie 2020 i️ ora 19 INTEGRAL}} 0:32:39</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/schimbare-in-dosarul-revolutiei-doua-ministere-ar-putea-fi-obligate-sa-acorde-despagubiri.html\|title=Schimbare în Dosarul Revoluției. Două ministere ar putea fi obligate să acorde despăgubiri\|website=Stirileprotv.ro\|date=12 June 2020}}</ref> Another source gives the figure of 306 people killed 17–22 December 1989.<ref>Valentin Marin. ''Martirii Revoluției în date statistice'' Editura Institului Revoluției Române, Bucharest, 2010, p. 22</ref> * 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 /> * Nicolae Ceaușescu openly disavowed the court. One of the Ceaușescus' [[lawyer]]s suggested before the execution that since the pair did not [[legal recognition\|recognize]] the tribunal, there was no avenue for appealing the verdict.<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 \| 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> * The person who signed the [[decree]] for organizing the court, [[coup d'état\|coup]] leader Ion Iliescu, lacked legal power to do so. The order was handwritten in a lavatory in the [[Ministry of National Defence (Romania)\|Romanian Ministry of Defence]].<ref name="archive.ph 2013">{{cite web \| title=Cine a ordonat execuţia lui Nicolae Ceauşescu? \| website=Napocanews \| date=16 April 2013 \| url=http://www.napocanews.ro/2010/12/cine-a-ordonat-executia-lui-nicolae-ceausescu.html \| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416151540/http://www.napocanews.ro/2010/12/cine-a-ordonat-executia-lui-nicolae-ceausescu.html \| url-status=dead \| archive-date=2013-04-16 \| language=ro \| access-date=23 December 2021 \| last= Țene \| first=Ionuț }}</ref> * [[Romania]]n law prohibited carrying out the [[capital punishment\|death sentence]] less than ten days after a guilty verdict to allow time by the defendant's lawyers to file an appeal.<ref name=daysthat>BBC ''[[Days That Shook the World]]'' Season 3, Episode 8, "The Road To Revolution: The Execution of Ceaușescu/The Iranian Revolution"</ref> After the Ceaușescus' execution, the death penalty was abolished in Romania.<ref name="Hodgkinson 1996 p. ">{{cite book \| last=Frankowski \| first=Stanislaw \| chapter=Post-Communist Europe\| editor-last1=Hodgkinson \| editor-first1=Peter \| editor-last2=Rutherford \| editor-first2=Andrew \| title=Capital punishment : global issues and prospects \| publisher=Waterside Press \| location=Winchester \| year=1996 \| isbn=978-1-872870-32-8 \| oclc=35117348 \| page=224}}</ref> * The coup leaders said the execution of the Ceaușescus was necessary to stop [[terrorist]]s from attacking the new political order. No terrorists or [[terrorist cell]]s were found to have been active in Romania.<ref>R.M. [http://revistapresei.hotnews.ro/stiri-radio_tv-8145193-dan-voinea-nu-existat-teroristi-decembrie-39-89-sotii-ceausescu-fost-ucisi-pentru-salva-administratia-comunista-care-dureaza-azi.htm Dan Voinea: Nu au existat teroristi in decembrie '89. Sotii Ceausescu au fost ucisi pentru a salva administratia comunista, care dureaza si azi] Hotnews.ro</ref> A newer insight of prosecution of "crimes against humanity" claims that the new regime orchestrated "a psychosis of terrorism" through diversionary actions.<ref name="Capital 2019">{{cite web \| first=Valentin \| last=Vioreanu \| title=Lovitură cumplită pentru Ion Iliescu! Ce au decis judecătorii \| website=Capital \| date=9 October 2019 \| url=https://www.capital.ro/breaking-news-lovitura-cumplita-pentru-ion-iliescu-ce-au-decis-judecatorii.html \| language=ro \| access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref> * Initially Iliescu did not wish to carry out the executions immediately, and he instead favored a formal trial to be carried out several weeks later.<ref name="Siani-Davies2007">{{cite book\|first=Peter\|last=Siani-Davies\|title=The Romanian Revolution of December 1989\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBssmkvaSoQC&pg=PA136\|year=2007\|publisher=Cornell University Press\|isbn=978-0-8014-7389-0\|page=136}}</ref> General [[Victor Stănculescu]] insisted on the couple's hasty execution as an imperative for the [[Romanian Army]] supporting the newly created National Salvation Front.<ref name=daysthat /> After a few hours of debating this option, Iliescu agreed with Stănculescu and signed the decree for organizing the court.<ref name=daysthat /> ==Execution==

Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu: Difference between revisions