This archive report was first published on 29 November 2019.
On December 22, 1989, Ion Iliescu took control of the Romanian government, a move that would have far-reaching consequences for the country's citizens. Almost 30 years later, his actions are being scrutinized in a trial for crimes against humanity.
Elena Bancila, 75, is among the victims gathering for a preliminary hearing in Bucharest on Friday. Her son was shot and killed in front of the public TV building shortly after the revolution began. Bancila believes Iliescu is responsible for her son's death.
Iliescu, 89, rejects the accusations and is not expected to appear in court on Friday. However, prosecutors accuse him of contributing to a generalised psychosis by spreading misinformation about supposed terrorists loyal to the ousted dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Prosecutors say Iliescu's pronouncements increased the risk of instances of friendly fire, chaotic shooting, and contradictory military orders, resulting in the deaths of 862 people after December 22.
Historian Madalin Hodor suggests that the suggestion of the presence of terrorists was an attempt to divert attention from killings committed by the Securitate secret police and the army in the weeks leading up to Ceausescu's fall.
Iliescu is not the only one facing trial. Former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican-Voiculescu and former military chief Iosif Rus will also be tried for crimes against humanity.
Nicoleta Giurcanu, a 44-year-old woman who was arrested and beaten by police in December 1989, holds Iliescu responsible for the abuses she suffered. She wants to see Iliescu in prison if it's only for one day.
Bancila, who has kept her son's blood-stained trousers and his bullet hole-ridden coat, thinks the trial might finally wash the shame of a judiciary that pretended it was free.
