Former president Ion Iliescu and former prime minister Petre Roman could be tried for crimes against humanity after Romania’s head prosecutor Augustin Lazar submitted a formal request in this regard to President Klaus Iohannis.

Lazar asked Iohannis to endorse the indictment of key figures involved in the brutal events of December 1989, when the reformed communists removed president Nicolae Ceausescu from power amid a bloody conflict suspected by prosecutors of having been arranged in order to provide credibility and legitimacy to those taking over power.

A former member of the communist nomenklatura, Iliescu had played a crucial role in the overthrow of the communist regime in December 1989 and in the establishment of new democratic institutions in 1990.

The request, which also concerns the former head of the secret services Gelu Voican Voiculescu, specifically regards the events of December 22-31, 1989.

Lower ranking communist officials and members of the intelligence services, under the command of Iliescu, took control of the country after Ceausescu was executed on December 25, 1989. And yet, fighting continued across the country. Prosecutors suspect the fighting was faked with the intention of consolidating Iliescu’s hold on power.

Prosecutors claim that the attacks in several Romanian towns were part of a plan designed to create confusion by dividing the military leadership, spreading rumours, distributing guns to civilians and generally creating the impression of a civil war. The plan was aimed at legitimising the new power.  

This was not the first time that Iliescu has faced investigation over the events that happened 25 years ago. During an earlier investigation, started in June 2005, prosecutors dropped most of the charges against him, including undermining state power, propaganda for war, genocide, inhuman treatment and complicity to torture.

The request was sent to Iohannis on the grounds that those indicted held positions similar to executive positions at the time. By law, endorsement from the president or any of the two parliament’s chambers is needed in such cases. However, the situation remains debatable since the interim body formed after the fall of the Ceasusescu regime, namely the National Salvation Front, did not have the form of an ordinary government with ministers and in terms of decision-making, and hence the responsibility was rather diffuse.