Ilie Ilașcu (born 30 July 1952) is a Moldovan-born Romanian politician, especially known for being
sentenced to death by the
separatist
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
n government for alleged involvement in two murders and for actions which have been described as Moldovan state-sponsored
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 ...
by Transnistrian government officials.
Political activity
Born in
Taxobeni,
Fălești district
Fălești () is a district ( ro, raion) in the north of Moldova, with the administrative center at Fălești.
As of January 1, 2011, its population was 92,600.
It borders Romania, in Western Moldova.
History
District towns, with the earliest hi ...
, Ilașcu graduated from the Faculty of Economic Studies of the
Agricultural Institute in Chișinău. He is married to Nina and they have two daughters, Tatiana (b. 28 February 1980) and Olga (b. 1 July 1984). Ilie Ilașcu worked as chief economist at "Dnestr" Research Institute in
Tiraspol. Ilașcu became known for his opposition to
Moldovan Communist Party
The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Партидул Комуништилор дин Република Молдова, italic=no, Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova; russian: Партия коммунистов Р ...
politics regarding the
Moldovan language
Moldovan (Romanian alphabet, Latin alphabet: ''limba moldovenească''; Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet: лимба молдовеняскэ), also known historically as Moldavian, is one of the two local names of the Romanian language in Moldova. " ...
, for openly advocating the usage of
Latin script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...
and for recognition of a Moldovan-Romanian identity, as well as for giving Moldovan the status of an official language.
His opponents nicknamed him "glavnîi extremist" (chief extremist) instead of "glavnîi economist" (chief economist). In January 1989 he was one of the founders of a Moldovan association in Tiraspol. On July 9, 1989 he was arrested for the first time, being released with excuses after few days. Also in 1989 he was dismissed from his job, but was able to regain his position after appealing to the prosecutor office. On September 5, 1989 as he spoke at a meeting in Tiraspol in favour of the language laws passed by the
Moldovan parliament, he was taken away by policemen, who needed to protect him from the crowd of political opponents.
Starting with 1989, he was the president of the Tiraspol branch of the ''
Moldovan Popular Front
The Popular Front of Moldova ( ro, Frontul Popular din Moldova) was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the newly independent Republic of Moldova. Formally, the Front existed ...
'', which advocated the union of Moldova and Romania.
["Moldova Trial Draws Protest", in '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', December 12, 1993. pg. A.19
He is a leader of the
Democratic Forum of Romanians in Moldova
The Democratic Forum of the Romanians of Moldova ( ro, Forumul Democrat al Românilor din Moldova) is a civic movement, which brings together over 120 NGOs, several leading public organizations of Moldova and a whole number of academicians, write ...
. In 2010, Ilașcu announced he will support
Mihai Ghimpu and the
Liberal Party.
[Members of "Ilascu Group", awarded „Ordinul Republicii"](_blank)
/ref>
The Ilașcu group trial
On June 2, 1992, he and three more ethnic Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
( Andrei Ivanțoc, Alexandru Leșco and Tudor Petrov Popa) were arrested by the breakaway Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
n government and charged with the murder of two separatist officials.
On 9 December 1993, the Supreme Court of Transnistria found him guilty of a number of offences defined in the Criminal Code of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, including incitement to commit an offence against national security, organisation of activities with the aim of committing extremely dangerous offences against the State, murdering a representative of the State with the aim of spreading terror, premeditated murder, unlawfully requisitioning means of transport, deliberate destruction of another's property and illegal or unauthorised use of ammunition or explosives.
Ilașcu was sentenced to be shot and the other three defendants were sentenced to hard labour for terms between 12 and 15 years. They had no right of appeal.
During the trial, the defendants were kept in reinforced iron cages, as they were considered "extremely dangerous". This decision was contested by various international human rights organizations, which doubted the fairness of the trial and alleged that they were prosecuted only because they were members of the Tiraspol branch of the Popular Front, a Moldovan party which favours a union with Romania. For years he was kept in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
without access to family and medical assistance.
While in the Transnistrian prison, Ilașcu was elected twice to the Moldovan Parliament on the lists of the Democratic Christian Popular Front, in 1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
and 1998 election.
In October 2000, he received Romanian citizenship
The Romanian nationality law addresses specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between Romania and the individual. Romanian nationality law is based on '' jus sanguinis'' ("right of blood"). Current citizenship policy in Romania is in ...
, after which he renounced his Moldovan citizenship
Moldovan nationality law dates back to June 2, 2000 and has been amended several times, with the latest modifications being made in 2014. It is based on the Constitution of Moldova (articles 17, 18 and 19). It is mainly based on Jus sanguinis.
...
. In the same year, he was elected to the Senate of Romania for the Greater Romania Party, representing Bacău County
Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania.
Geography
This county has a total area of .
In the western part of the county the ...
. Reelected in 2004, Ilașcu served as a member of the Senate until 2008.
Release
Ilașcu was eventually released on May 5, 2001, two years after he filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
and following a verdict of the European Court for Human Rights, where he had sued both Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
.
The other three members of the group were released as follows:
* Andrei Ivanțoc - June 2, 2007
* Alexandru Leșco - June 2, 2004
* Tudor Petrov Popa - June 4, 2007
Russian authorities denied any involvement in the affair.
Ilașcu and Others v. Moldova and Russia
The European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
judged in 2004 that the authorities have infringed the human rights (as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
) of Ilie Ilașcu and the other three people arrested by the Transnistrian government. The ruling came after a legal process that began in 1999.[Ilascu and Others vs. Moldova and Russia](_blank)
/ref> The court ruled that the Supreme Court of the PMR was not an actual court with any jurisdiction over the detainees, and its findings that led to their conviction were not considered.[ Regnum]
"Молдавская "Группа Илашку" - террористы или политзеки?"
3 June 2005 Under the court's decision, Russia was to pay Ilașcu 187,000 euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s. Alexandru Tănase
Alexandru Tănase (born 24 February 1971) is a Moldovan politician. He is a former president of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova. He was Justice Minister in the First Vlad Filat Cabinet, and in the first several months of the ...
was a lawyer for Ilașcu.
Awards
* Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...
, 2001
* Order of the Republic (Moldova), 2010
References
External links
US Department of State - Moldova, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilascu, Ilie
1952 births
Living people
People from Fălești District
Members of the Senate of Romania
European Court of Human Rights cases involving Moldova
European Court of Human Rights cases involving Russia
Popular Front of Moldova politicians
Greater Romania Party politicians
Romanian people of Moldovan descent
Transnistrian people
Romanian prisoners sentenced to death
Moldovan prisoners sentenced to death
Prisoners sentenced to death by Transnistria
Romanian people convicted of murder
Moldovan people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by Transnistria
Moldovan MPs 1994–1998
Moldovan MPs 1998–2001
Ilașcu Group
Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Moldova)