Dealul Spirii Trial (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: ''Procesul din Dealul Spirii'') was a

political trial A political trial is a criminal trial with political implications. When the trial is carried out without the minimum guarantees of the rule of law, the political trial is the expression of a totalitarian or authoritarian system, where the administra ...

conducted by a

military tribunal Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. 271 members of the

Communist Party of Romania The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

were accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

after voting for the inclusion of the party into the

Third International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

. The defendants were convicted and later pardoned. The trial was the first step of the repression of communists in the Kingdom of Romania. Less than two years after the trial, the parliament voted a total ban of the Communist Party and

communist ideology Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

; for the next two decades, the government enforced a violent repression against the communists and labour unions. A number of politicians and intellectuals, including

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

Dem I. Dobrescu Dem I. Dobrescu (usual rendition of ''Demetru Ion Dobrescu''; 1869 – 1948) was a Romanian left-wing politician who served as List of Mayors of Bucharest, Mayor of Bucharest between February 1929 and January 1934. Biography Early life Born in J ...

, and

Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the U ...

voiced their discontent over the lack of constitutional basis for the trial.

Arrests

On May 12, 1921, the last day of the Congress of the Romanian Socialist-Communist Party, the party leaders (including

Gheorghe Cristescu Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in Copaciu, Giurgiu County – November 29, 1973 in Timișoara) was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" ("The Blanket Maker"), he is also occasionall ...

, Moscu Kohn, Mihai Gheorghiu Bujor, and

Elek Köblös Elek Köblös (; 12 May 1887 – 9 October 1938) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Hungarian and Romanian communist activist and political leader. He was also known by the pseudonyms ''Balthazar'', ''Bădulescu'', and ''Dănilă''. He served as g ...

), as well as a large number of communist sympathisers were arrested by gendarmes and police who broke into the hall. They were held for eight months in miserable conditions, the detention being extremely tough for all of them, being tortured and not being allowed to have visits of relatives. They were forced to work for the military, cleaning up the

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground (pit latrine), or m ...

s and the courtyards of the

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

Charges

The communists were put into a joint trial with

Max Goldstein Max Goldstein (1898–1924), also known as Coca, was a Romanian revolutionary, variously described as a communist and an anarchist. Born in Bârlad to a Jewish family, he worked as a clerk for two years. He later moved to Bucharest in 1916, w ...

, an anarchist who bombed the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, killing three people. The charges included a large number of crimes including crime against the state security,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, collaboration with the enemy and instigation to

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

. The main evidence for the charges was that the communists voted for the affiliation of the party to the Third International.

, the leader of the party was the main defendant. Constantin Cernat, the royal commissaire, accused him of "taking an active part in preaching the abolition of the present form of government, preaching rebellion, insulting and contempting state institutions". Cernat tried to prove the links between the Socialist movement in Romania and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Trial

Under the pretext that the courtroom was too small, the public was not allowed to witness the trial and only a small number of journalists were allowed inside. The main defense attorney was

, the dean of the Bucharest Bar, helped by leading lawyers including Osvald Teodoreanu, Iorgu Petrovici, and N. D. Cocea. The defense brought 600 witnesses, while the prosecuting attorney brought 300 witnesses. In favour of the communists spoke General

Alexandru Averescu Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being ''inter ...

, the managing director of ''

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

'', and

Constantin Mille Constantin Mille (; December 21, 1861 – February 20, 1927) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, lawyer, and socialist militant, as well as a prominent human rights activist. A Marxist for much of his life, Mille was noted for his vocal sup ...

; historian

said he supported the communists' right to a fair trial and argued that the affiliation to an international organization is not an action against state security. The defense strategy was to try to separate the defenders into people who were arrested for their political activity (the communists) and the anarchists, such as

Verdict

All but 37 of the prisoners were convicted. Among those that were found innocent were Mihai Cruceanu, Moscu Kohn,

Ilie Moscovici Ilie B. Moscovici (also known as Tovilie; 28 November 1885 – 1 November 1943) was a Romanian socialist militant and journalist, one of the noted leaders of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR). A socialist since early youth and a party ...

, and Constantin Popovici. The sentences for the Communist Party members varied from 1 month in prison to 10 years of forced labour; Goldstein was convicted to forced labour for life.

Amnesty

The defenders began a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

. As the press began revealing the abuses in the prison, two prison guards, a captain and a lieutenant, were dismissed. Lawyer Take Polikrat wrote a letter to

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ferdinand I of Romania Ferdinand (Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad; 24 August 1865 – 20 July 1927), nicknamed ''Întregitorul'' ("the Unifier"), was King of Romania from 1914 until his death in 1927. Ferdinand was the second son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and ...

, asking him to show his goodwill toward the defendants. An amnesty was discussed in the government, after which, it was signed by the King on June 6, 1922, 213 of the prisoners being released. Excluded from amnesty were 48 of the defendants, who stood accused of high treason, military espionage or terrorist attacks.

References

{{reflist 1922 in Romania Anti-communism in Romania People detained by the Siguranța Trials of political people Trials in Romania Kingdom of Romania Political and cultural purges Political repression in Romania Socialism in Romania