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

On 1 March 1990, Colonel Gică Popa, who presided over the trial and was promoted to General, was found dead in his office. His death was ruled a suicide.<ref name="romaniatv.net 2017">{{cite web | title=Morți NEELUCIDATE care pătează imaginea justiției din România | website=romaniatv.net | date=25 May 2017 | url=http://www.romaniatv.net/morti-misterioase-la-cel-mai-inalt-nivel-cine-blocheaza-anchetele_358056.html |language=ro |access-date=3 May 2021 }}</ref> The Ceaușescus were the last people to be executed in Romania before the abolition of capital punishment on 7 January 1990.<ref name="Reality Check team 2018">{{cite web|author=Reality Check team|date=14 October 2018|title=How many countries still have the death penalty?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45835584|access-date=17 October 2019|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> 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=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty | 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> On 1 March 1990, Colonel Gică Popa, who presided over the trial and was promoted to General, was found dead in his office. His death was ruled a suicide.<ref name="romaniatv.net 2017">{{cite web | title=Morți NEELUCIDATE care pătează imaginea justiției din România | website=romaniatv.net | date=25 May 2017 | url=http://www.romaniatv.net/morti-misterioase-la-cel-mai-inalt-nivel-cine-blocheaza-anchetele_358056.html |language=ro |access-date=3 May 2021 }}</ref> The Ceaușescus were the last people to be executed in Romania before the abolition of capital punishment on 7 January 1990.<ref name="Reality Check team 2018">{{cite web|author=Reality Check team|date=14 October 2018|title=How many countries still have the death penalty?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45835584|access-date=17 October 2019|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>