Investigation extended into former Romanian president Ion Iliescu’s actions in Revolution case

Anca Alexe 22/05/2018 | 12:15

Former Romanian president Ion Iliescu was informed today that military prosecutors have extended the investigations into his actions in the 1989 Revolution case.

He was already being investigated for crimes against humanity for failing to prevent the deaths of over 700 people and the wounding of another 2,000, but the accusation originally referred to the period between December 27-31, 1989, and today it was extended to include the period between December 22-27, 1989.

Ion Iliescu refused to comment on the new accusations this morning, when he arrived at the Public Prosecutor’s Office to be officially informed of the new accusations.

Last week, the Supreme Court rejected a request by the December 21 Association to seize the assets of Ion Iliescu and former PM Petre Roman in the Revolution case.

On December 18, 2017, military prosecutors announced that their investigation into the Romanian Revolution found that there was no power vacuum in that period as power was overtaken soon after the fall of Ceausescu by a political-military commanding force.

Military prosecutor Marian Lazar said that there was a military diversion starting on December 22, which was the main cause of the deaths, injuries and destruction that followed, and that Iliescu would have had the power to end the diversion and the “terrorist psychosis”, but did not take the necessary action and accepted the destructive military measures.