Nicolae Ceausescu: former Romanian dictator's remains 'exhumed for DNA tests'
The remains of the former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are being exhumed for DNA testing to prove they were buried in a Bucharest graveyard, officials said on Wednesday.
The former communist dictator ruled the country with an iron hand from 1965 until 1989 before he and his wife were executed by firing squad after a revolt by Romanians.
But the couple's three children have constantly expressed doubts their parents were actually buried in the graveyard in Ghencea, western Bucharest.
They have fought a long running battle for the remains to be exhumed, claiming there was no paperwork to prove they were in fact buried there.
On Wednesday, their son-in-law, Mircea Opran, who was married to the couple’s late daughter, Zoe, confirmed their remains were being dug up in order for DNA tests that could finally prove their identity.
"Today, the corpses will be exhumed in order to get samples for DNA testing. We have to know if it is really them who are buried here,” he told local television.
A cemetery official later confirmed that the exhumation had already begun and was due to be completed on Wednesday. It remains unclear what prompted the exhumation.
After street protests against his communist regime, Ceausescu and his wife fled Bucharest in December 1989.
They were arrested a few hours later before being summarily tried and executed on Christmas Day that year.
Their remains were buried in Ghencea military graveyard, authorities said.
But such was the hatred towards the couple that they were buried secretly at night with false names on the crosses amid fears their graves would be vandalised.
The couple's three children had previously asked the courts to allow the bodies to be exhumed so DNA tests could be carried out, a request that was erjected twice.
But in June 2008 the Romanian Court of Appeal ordered the country’s defence ministry to prove to the couple's only surviving son, Valentin, that the couple were buried there.
Today the graves, marked with marble crosses by people nostalgic for the days of communism, have become a place of pilgrimage.
Zoe Ceausescu, or Zoia, a mathematician, was arrested in December 1989 alongside her husband Mircea Oprean and her brother Valentin and charged with undermining the national economy. They were released eight months later.
Her youngest brother, Nicu, a Communist Party official, was charged with genocide in the deaths of 89 people in the central city of Sibiu.
He served three years of a 20-year prison sentence before he was released in November 1993 on health grounds.
Nicu died in 1996.
On Wednesday, their son-in-law, Mircea Opran, who was married to the couple’s late daughter, Zoe, confirmed their remains were being dug up in order for DNA tests that could finally prove their identity.
"Today, the corpses will be exhumed in order to get samples for DNA testing. We have to know if it is really them who are buried here,” he told local television.
A cemetery official later confirmed that the exhumation had already begun and was due to be completed on Wednesday. It remains unclear what prompted the exhumation.
After street protests against his communist regime, Ceausescu and his wife fled Bucharest in December 1989.
They were arrested a few hours later before being summarily tried and executed on Christmas Day that year.
Their remains were buried in Ghencea military graveyard, authorities said.
But such was the hatred towards the couple that they were buried secretly at night with false names on the crosses amid fears their graves would be vandalised.
The couple's three children had previously asked the courts to allow the bodies to be exhumed so DNA tests could be carried out, a request that was erjected twice.
But in June 2008 the Romanian Court of Appeal ordered the country’s defence ministry to prove to the couple's only surviving son, Valentin, that the couple were buried there.
Today the graves, marked with marble crosses by people nostalgic for the days of communism, have become a place of pilgrimage.
Zoe Ceausescu, or Zoia, a mathematician, was arrested in December 1989 alongside her husband Mircea Oprean and her brother Valentin and charged with undermining the national economy. They were released eight months later.
Her youngest brother, Nicu, a Communist Party official, was charged with genocide in the deaths of 89 people in the central city of Sibiu.
He served three years of a 20-year prison sentence before he was released in November 1993 on health grounds.
Nicu died in 1996.
2 comments:
Cel mai mare conducator al Romaniei,nici un alt conducator nu a realizat ce a realizat Ceausescu ,un om al paci si ordini ,nici un conducator al unei tari nu a realizat cea ce a realizat Ceausescu scopul lui pt cei ce nu stiu era ca pana in anul 2020 Romania sa fie cea mai prospera tara din lume,iar multi il critica pt ca nu cunosc cum sa ridicat Romania pana in 1989 si ce mari sacrifici sau facut pentru acesta sunt multe de spus urmariti epoca de aur al lui Ceaucescu si aducetiva aminte!
Cel mai mare conducator al Romaniei,nici un alt conducator nu a realizat ce a realizat Ceausescu ,un om al paci si ordini ,nici un conducator al unei tari nu a realizat cea ce a realizat Ceausescu scopul lui pt cei ce nu stiu era ca pana in anul 2020 Romania sa fie cea mai prospera tara din lume,iar multi il critica pt ca nu cunosc cum sa ridicat Romania pana in 1989 si ce mari sacrifici sau facut pentru acesta sunt multe de spus urmariti epoca de aur al lui Ceaucescu si aducetiva aminte!
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