\n Romanian prosecutors launched a formal probe Wednesday into possible \"crimes against humanity\" during the ex-communist country's 1989 revolution, when about 1,000 people died.\n<\/p>\n
\n The announcement opens a new stage in long-running investigations into those responsible during the bloody days before and after the death of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.\n<\/p>\n
\n The dossier was shelved a year ago, notably due to lack of evidence, but was reopened in June by the country's highest court.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Wednesday military prosecutors at the court said the investigation would be carried out in the context of \"crimes against humanity\".\n<\/p>\n
\n While the investigation does not name individuals, prosecutors say they are probing the responsibility of \"the new political and military leadership\" which took over after Ceausescu fled power on December 22 1989.\n<\/p>\n
\n The National Salvation Front led by a former Ceausescu minister, Ion Iliescu, led Romania in the first weeks after the revolution. Iliescu was elected the country's president in 1990.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"In order to maintain power\" the new leaders implemented a \"plan\" and provoked murder and injuries by gunfire, \"as well as the detention of a large number of people\", said a statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n In all 1,104 people died during the events of December 1989 in Romania, including 162 before the fall of Ceausescu, who ordered a clampdown on protests, and 942 in the days following, according to historical accounts which, 27 years later, remain unclear.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to prosecutors, 275 people have already faced legal action over their role in putting down the uprising, of whom only a few dozen have been convicted, according to victims' support groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n The uprising began in the eastern city of Timisoara on December 16 before reaching Bucharest on December 21. Ceausescu and his wife fled the following day, and were summarily executed on December 25.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Romanian dictator's demise came at the end of a momentous year in which communist regimes fell across central and eastern Europe -- with the Berlin Wall coming down in November -- presaging the demise of the Soviet Union by the end of 1991.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romanian prosecutors launched a formal probe Wednesday into possible \"crimes against humanity\" during the ex-communist country's 1989 revolution, when about 1,000 people died. The announcement opens a new stage in long-running investigations into those responsible during the bloody days before and after the death of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. The dossier was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-30470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n