Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
who served as
President of Romania
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...
from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu was a
senator
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 ...
for the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(PSD), of which he is the founder and honorary president to this day.
Iliescu joined the
Romanian Communist Party (PCR) in 1953 and became a member of its Central Committee in 1965. Beginning with 1971, he was gradually marginalized by
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
. He had a leading role in the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...
, becoming the country's president in December 1989. In May 1990, he became Romania's first freely elected head of state. After a new constitution was approved by popular referendum, he served a further two terms, firstly from 1992 to 1996 and then secondly from 2000 to 2004, separated by the presidency of
Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...
, who defeated him in
1996.
In 2004, during his presidency, Romania joined
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
. In April 2018, Iliescu was charged in Romania with committing
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
by "approving military measures, some of which had an evidently diversionary character" during the deadly aftermath of the country's 1989 revolution. In 2020, a judge rejected the case due to irregularities in the indictment.
Iliescu is currently the oldest living former
Romanian president
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...
.
Early life and entering politics
He was born in
Oltenița
Oltenița () is a city in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, on the left bank of the river Argeș, where its waters flow into the Danube.
Geography
The city is located in the southwestern part of the county; it stands across the Danube fro ...
, the son of
Alexandru Iliescu
Alexandru is the Romanian form of the name Alexander. Common diminutives are Alecu, Alex, and Sandu.
Origin
Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men" or "protector of men" ...
and Maria Dumitru Toma.
His mother, who was originally from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, abandoned him when he was an infant. His father, a railroad worker, had
communist
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 s ...
views, during a period in which the
Romanian Communist Party was banned by the authorities. In 1931, he went to 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 ...
to take part in the
Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: съезд КПСС) was the supreme decision-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Its meetings served as convention of all party delegates and their predecesso ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He remained in the USSR for the next four years and was arrested upon his return. He was imprisoned from June 1940 to August 1944 and died in August 1945. During his time in the Soviet Union, Alexandru Iliescu divorced and married Marița, a chambermaid. According to Iliescu's own statements, his grandfather, Vasili Ivanovici, was a Russian Jew, who, being persecuted by the tsarist authorities because of his socialist views, took refuge in Romania.
Iliescu was raised by his stepmother and by his grandparents. At age 9 he was adopted by an aunt, Aristița, who worked as a cook for
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
.
In 1948 he met Elena (Nina) Șerbănescu, when they were both 18-year old students, he at the
Saint Sava High School and she at the Iulia Hasdeu High School, in Bucharest.
The two were married on July 21, 1951; they have no children, not by choice but because they could not, as Nina had three
miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...
s. He studied
fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...
at the
Bucharest Polytechnic Institute and then as a foreign student at
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (MPEI) is a public university based in Moscow, Russia. It offers training in the fields of Power Engineering, Electric Engineering, Radio Engineering, Electronics, Information Tec ...
. During his stay in Moscow, he was the secretary of the "Association of Romanian Students"; it is alleged that he met
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, although Iliescu always denied this.
The 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 ...
, "Upheaval in the East: A Rising Star; A Man Who Could Become Rumania's Leader", 23 December 1989, p. 15 However, years later, president
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
probably believed that there was a connection between the two, since during Gorbachev's visit to Romania in July 1989, Iliescu was sent outside of Bucharest to prevent any contact.
Iliescu learned to speak
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
after the 1989 Revolution; he also speaks
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
French, and some
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
.
![016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/016.Vacanta-pentrecuta-in-Moldova-1976.jpg)
He joined the
Union of Communist Youth
, colorcode = red
, logo = Symbol of Union of Communist Youth.svg
, caption = Emblem
, logo2 =
, caption2 =
, founded = 1922
, dissolved = 1989
, headquarters = Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania ...
in 1944 and the Communist Party in 1953 and made a career in the Communist
nomenklatura
The ''nomenklatura'' ( rus, номенклату́ра, p=nəmʲɪnklɐˈturə, a=ru-номенклатура.ogg; from la, nomenclatura) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key admi ...
, becoming a secretary of the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
of the Union of Communist Youth in 1956 and a member of the Central Committee of the
Romanian Communist Party in 1965. At one point, he served as the head of the Central Committee's Department of Propaganda.
Iliescu later served as Minister for Youth-related Issues between 1967 and 1971.
However, in 1971, Ceaușescu felt threatened by Iliescu, who was seen as Ceaușescu's heir apparent. He was marginalized and removed from all major political offices, becoming vice-president of the
Timiș County
Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...
Council (1971–1974), and later president of the
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
Council (1974–1979). Until 1989, he was in charge of the Editura Tehnică publishing house. For most of the 1980s (if not before), he was tailed by the
Securitate
The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
(secret police), as he was known to oppose Ceaușescu's harsh rule.
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution began as a popular revolt in
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
. After Ceaușescu was overthrown on 22 December, the political vacuum was filled by an organization named
National Salvation Front (FSN: ''Frontul Salvării Naționale''), formed spontaneously by second-rank Communist party members opposed to the policies of Ceaușescu and non-affiliated participants in the revolt. Iliescu was quickly acknowledged as the leader of the organization and therefore of the provisional authority. He first learned of the revolution when he noticed the Securitate was no longer tailing him.
[
The Ceaușescus were captured, hauled before a ]drumhead court-martial
A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action. The term sometimes has connotations of summary offence, summary justice.
The term is said to originate from the use of a drum as ...
, and executed on Christmas Day. Years later, Iliescu conceded that the trial and execution were "quite shameful, but necessary" to end the chaos that had riven the country since Ceaușescu's overthrow.
Iliescu proposed multi-party elections and an "original democracy". This is widely held to have meant the adoption of ''Perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
''-style reforms rather than the complete removal of existing institutions; it can be linked to the warm reception the new regime was given by Mikhail Gorbachev and the rest of the Soviet
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 nation ...
leadership, and the fact that the first post-revolutionary international agreement signed by Romania was with that country.
Iliescu later evoked the possibility of trying a "Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
model" of social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
and democratic socialism.
Rumours abounded for years that Illiescu and other second-rank Communists had been planning to overthrow Ceaușescu, but the events of December 1989 overtook them. For instance, Nicolae Militaru, the new regime's first Defense Minister
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...
, said that Illiescu and others had planned to take Ceaușescu prisoner in February 1990 while he was out of the capital. However, Illiescu denies this, saying that the nature of the Ceaușescu regime—particularly the Securitate's ubiquity—made advance planning for a coup all but impossible.[
]
Presidency
The National Salvation Front (FSN) subsequently decided to organize itself as a party and participate in the 1990 general election—the first free election held in the country in 53 years–with Illiescu as its presidential candidate. The FSN won a sweeping victory, taking strong majorities in both chambers. In the separate presidential election, Iliescu won handily, taking 85 percent of the vote, still the largest vote share for a free presidential election. He became Romania's first democratically elected head of state. To date, it is the only time since the Fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
that a president has been elected in a single round.
Iliescu and his supporters split from the Front and created the Democratic National Salvation Front (FDSN), which later evolved into the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), then the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (see Social Democratic Party of Romania
The Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat, PSD) is the largest social democratic political party in Romania and also the largest overall political party in the country, aside from European Parliament level, where it is the seco ...
). Progressively, the Front lost its character as a national government or generic coalition, and became vulnerable to criticism for using its appeal as the first institution involved in power sharing, while engaging itself in political battles with forces that could not enjoy this status, nor the credibility.
Under the pressure of the events that led to the Mineriad
The mineriads ( ro, mineriade) were a series of protests and often violent altercations by Jiu Valley miners in Bucharest during the 1990s, particularly 1990–91. The term "mineriad" is also used to refer to the most significant and violent of ...
s, his political stance has veered with time: from a proponent of ''Perestroika'', Iliescu recast himself as a Western European social democrat
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
. The main debate around the subject of his commitment to such ideals is linked to the special conditions in Romania, and especially to the strong nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and autarkic attitude visible within the Ceaușescu regime. Critics have pointed out that, unlike most Communist-to-social democrat changes in the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, Romania's tended to retain various cornerstones.
Romania adopted its first post-Communist Constitution in 1991. In 1992, Iliescu won a second term when he received 61% of the vote in the second round. He immediately suspended his NSDF membership; the Constitution does not allow the president to be a formal member of a political party during his term. He ran for a third time in 1996 but, stripped of media monopoly, he lost in the second round to Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...
, his second-round opponent in 1992. Over 1,000,000 votes were cancelled, leading to accusations of widespread fraud. Nevertheless, Iliescu conceded defeat within hours of polls closing, making him the only incumbent president to lose a bid for re-election since the end of Communism.
In the 2000 presidential election Iliescu ran again and won in the run-off against the ultra-nationalist Corneliu Vadim Tudor
Corneliu Vadim Tudor (; 28 November 1949 – 14 September 2015) also colloquially known as "Tribunul" was the leader of the Greater Romania Party ( ro, Partidul România Mare), poet, writer, journalist, and a Member of the European Parliament. H ...
. He began his third term on 20 December of that year, ending on 20 December 2004. The center-right was severely defeated during the 2000 elections due largely to public dissatisfaction with the harsh economic reforms of the previous four years as well as the political instability and infighting of the multiparty coalition. Tudor's extreme views also ensured that most urban voters either abstained or chose Iliescu.
In the PSD elections of 21 April 2005, Iliescu lost the Party presidency to Mircea Geoană
Dan Mircea Geoană (; born 14 July 1958) is a Romanian politician and former ambassador who served as president of the upper chamber of the Romanian Parliament, the Senate from 20 December 2008 until he was revoked on 23 November 2011. From 21 ...
, but was elected as honorary president of the party in 2006, a position without official executive authority in the party.
Controversies
Though enjoying a certain popularity due to his opposition to Ceaușescu and image as a revolutionary, his political career after 1989 was characterized by multiple controversies and scandals. Public opinion regarding his tenure as president is still divided.
Alleged KGB connections
Some alleged Iliescu had connections to the KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
; the allegations continued during 2003–2008, when Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Константи́нович Буко́вский; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer. From the late 195 ...
, who had been granted access to Soviet archives, declared that Iliescu and some of the NSF members were KGB agents, that Iliescu had been in close connection with Mikhail Gorbachev ever since they had allegedly met during Iliescu's stay in Moscow, and that the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a plot organized by the KGB to regain control of the country's policies (gradually lost under Ceaușescu's rule). The only hard evidence published was a discussion between Gorbachev and Bulgaria's Aleksandar Lilov
Aleksandar Vasilev Lilov ( bg, Александър Василев Лилов; 31 August 1933 – 20 July 2013) was a Bulgarian politician and philosopher. At his career's height during the People's Republic of Bulgaria, he was described as the s ...
from 23 May 1990 (after Iliescu's victory in the 20 May elections) in which Gorbachev says that Iliescu holds a "calculated position", and that despite sharing common views with Iliescu, Gorbachev wanted to avoid sharing this impression with the public.
Mineriads
Iliescu, along with other figures in the leading FSN, was allegedly responsible for calling the Jiu Valley
The Jiu Valley ( ro, Valea Jiului ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and t ...
miners to Bucharest on January ( January 1990 Mineriad) and June (June 1990 Mineriad
The June 1990 Mineriad was the suppression of anti- National Salvation Front (FSN) rioting in Bucharest, Romania by the physical intervention of groups of industrial workers as well as coal miners from the Jiu Valley, brought to Bucharest by the ...
) 1990 to end the protests of the citizens gathered in University Square, Bucharest
University Square () is located in downtown Bucharest, near the University of Bucharest. It is served by Universitate metro station.
Four statues can be found in the University Square, in front of the university; they depict Ion Heliade Rădule ...
, protests aimed against the ex-Communist leaders of Romania (like himself). The pejorative term for this demonstration was the Golaniad
The Golaniad ( ro, Golaniada , from the word ''golan'' meaning "hoodlum") was a protest in Romania in the University Square (Bucharest), University Square, Bucharest. It was initiated by students and professors at the University of Bucharest.
The ...
(from the 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 ...
''golan'', rascal). On 13 June, an attempt of the authorities to remove from the square around 100 protesters, which had remained in the street even after the May elections had confirmed Iliescu and the FSN, resulted in attacks against several state institutions, such as the Ministry of Interior, the Bucharest Police Headquarters and the National Television. Iliescu issued a call to the Romanian people to come and defend the government, prompting several groups of miners to descend on the capital, armed with wooden clubs and bats. They trashed the University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
, some newspaper offices and the headquarters of opposition parties, claiming that they were havens of decadence and immorality – drugs, firearms and munitions, "an automatic typewriter", and fake currency. The June 1990 Mineriad in particular was widely criticized both at home and internationally, with one historian (Andrei Pippidi
Andrei-Nicolae Pippidi (born 12 March 1948, in Bucharest) is a Romanian historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Bucharest, specialised in South-Eastern European history of the 15th–19th century, in Romanian history of the Middle A ...
) comparing the events to Nazi Germany's Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
. Government inquiries later established that the miners were infiltrated and instigated by former Securitate
The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
operatives. In February 1994 a Bucharest court "found two security officers, Colonel Ion Nicolae and warrant officer Corneliu Dumitrescu, guilty of ransacking the house of Ion Rațiu
Ion Rațiu (; 6 June 1917 – 17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician as well as the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) in the ...
, a leading figure in the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party, during the miners' incursion and stealing $100,000."
King Michael
In 1992, three years after the revolution which overthrew the Communist dictatorship, the Romanian government allowed 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 ...
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantin ...
to return to his country for Easter celebrations, where he drew large crowds. In Bucharest, over a million people turned out to see him. Michael's popularity alarmed the government of President Ion Iliescu, so Michael was forbidden to visit Romania again for five years. In 1997, after Iliescu's defeat by Emil Constantinescu, the Romanian Government restored Michael's citizenship and again allowed him to visit the country.
Pardons
In December 2001, Iliescu pardoned three inmates convicted for bribery, including George Tănase, former Financial Guard head commissioner for Ialomița County
Ialomița County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.
Demographics
In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2.
Romanians make up 95.6% of the popula ...
. Iliescu had to revoke Tănase's pardon a few days later due to the media outcry, claiming that "a legal adviser was superficial in analyzing the case". Later, the humanitarian reasons invoked in the pardon were contradicted by another medical expert opinion. Another controversial pardon was that of Dan Tartagă, a businessman from Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
who, while drunk, had run over and killed two people on a pedestrian crossing. He was sentenced to three years and a half but was pardoned after only a couple of months. Tartagă was later sentenced to a two-year sentence for fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
.
Most controversial of all, on 15 December 2004, a few days before the end of his last term, Iliescu pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
ed 47 convicts, including Miron Cozma
Miron Cozma (born August 25, 1954) is a former Romanian labor-union organizer and politician, and leader of Romania's Jiu Valley coal miners' union. He is best known for his leading the miners of the Jiu Valley during the September 1991 Mineriad ...
, the leader of the miners during the early 1990s, who had been sentenced in 1999 to 18 years in prison in conjunction with the September 1991 Mineriad. This has attracted harsh criticism from all Romanian media. Many of the pardoned had been convicted for corruption or other economic crimes, while one had been imprisoned for his involvement in the attempts at suppressing the 1989 Revolution.[
]
Decorating Vadim Tudor
In the last days of his president mandate, he awarded the 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 ...
(rank of ceremonial knighthood) to the controversial, ultra-nationalist politician Corneliu Vadim Tudor
Corneliu Vadim Tudor (; 28 November 1949 – 14 September 2015) also colloquially known as "Tribunul" was the leader of the Greater Romania Party ( ro, Partidul România Mare), poet, writer, journalist, and a Member of the European Parliament. H ...
, a gesture which drew criticism in the press and prompted Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
winner Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...
, fifteen Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
journalists, Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu
Gheorghe Coriolan Ciuhandu (; born 15 June 1947) is a Romanian politician.
A building engineer by profession, he graduated from the Traian Vuia Polytechnic Institute in 1970, earning a doctorate in 1986 and joining the faculty in 1993. He was ...
, songwriter Alexandru Andrieș, and historian Randolph Braham
Randolph Lewis Braham (December 20, 1922 – November 25, 2018) was an American historian and political scientist, born in Romania, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the City College and The Graduate Center of the City Un ...
to return their Romanian honours in protest. The leader of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...
, Béla Markó
Béla Markó (born September 8, 1951 in Târgu Secuiesc, Covasna County, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romanian politician and writer of Hungarian ethnicity. The former leader of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), he ...
, did not show up to claim the award he received on the same occasion. President Traian Băsescu revoked the award granted to Tudor on 24 May 2007, but a lawsuit is ongoing even after Băsescu's decree was declared constitutional.
Black sites
Ion Iliescu was mentioned in the report of the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
investigator into illegal activities of the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
in Europe, Dick Marty
Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun ...
. He was identified as one of the people who authorized or at least knew about and should stand accountable for the operation of a CIA black site
CIA black sites refer to the black sites that are controlled by the CIA and used by the U.S. government in its War on Terror to detain enemy combatants.
US President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret prisons operated by the C ...
at Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase from 2003 to 2005, in the context of the War on terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...
. In April 2015, Iliescu confirmed that he had granted a CIA request for a site in Romania, but was not aware of the nature of the site, describing it as a small gesture of goodwill to an ally in advance of Romania's eventual accession to NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
. Iliescu further stated that had he known of the intended use of the site, he would certainly not have approved the request.
Revolution of 1989 and subsequent accusations
In 2016, a previously closed legal case regarding crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
committed by the interim government headed by Iliescu during the Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...
was reopened. In 2015, after 26 years of prolonged investigation, the authorities concluded that there was no evidence with which they could prosecute. In 2016, the case was ordered to be re-examined by the interim General Prosecutor. By 2017, military prosecutors had alleged that the events of 1989 were orchestrated by a misinformation campaign on the part of Iliescu's government, which were disseminated through broadcasting media. Reportedly, this investigation lead to speculation of whether the conflict of 1989 could be classified as a revolution, or else as a coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
.
In April 2018, the General Prosecutor asked that Iliescu be put on trial. President Klaus Iohannis
Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist and former teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became leader of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...
approved this request, as well as the proceeding of the prosecution of Petre Roman
Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his government was overthrown by the intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma. He was the first prime ministe ...
. Iliescu was charged for his alleged role in the killing of 862 people during the revolution, at which time he headed the National Salvation Front (FSN) interim government, as well as the spreading of misinformation. Allegations included Iliescu's apparent involvement in the Mineriad case, in which miners quashed protests against the government. The initial charges, brought forward in 2005, were shortly dropped, until 2014 when the European Court of Human Rights found Iliescu's lack of investigation into the events of Mineriad to be in violation of human rights to life, freedom from inhumane, and degrading treatment and demonstration, and again in 2015, when the Military Prosecutor's Section within the Prosecutor's Office and the Justice Office reopened investigations into the Mineriad protests, accusing Iliescu, along with other accused perpetrators, of coordinating a general and systematic attack against the civilian population during the events from 13 until 15 June 1990 in Bucharest. On 13 June 2017, the Prosecutor's Office indicted Iliescu for crimes against humanity for actions taken by Iliescu during the Mineriad protests. The statement released by the office claimed that the attack illegally involved forces of the Interior Ministry, Defence Ministry, Romanian Intelligence service, as well as the miners and other workers from various areas of the country. The office further alleged that attacks were also carried out against peaceful residents. The case was ultimately rejected in December 2020, as the judges found that the indictment was void and thus could not be used in a trial.
On 8 April 2019, Iliescu was officially charged with crimes against humanity Iliescu's lawyer Adrian Georgescu complained that the file was illegitimate due to its lack of a prosecutor. In December 2019, Iliescu's trial began to focus on allegations that he had intentionally spread disinformation through the use of broadcast media with the aid of Aurel Dragoș Munteanu, a member of the FSN and the director of TVR during the revolution of 1989, meaning that he was greatly influential in the FSN's ability to foster support in the Romanian public. Among the claims investigated were Iliescu's broadcast claim that "unknown terrorists" were responsible for the deaths of Elena and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Amid candlelight vigils and other memorial services during the 30th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution, several survivors of the conflict spoke out against Iliescu's trial, with many claiming it is a publicity stunt on the part of Iohannis to gain popularity from the Romanian population that still seek the truth about the revolution. Iliescu's trial is not expected to reach a definitive conclusion. The trial was first postponed to February 2020 due to Iliescu's declining health and the slow pace of legal proceedings. This case was also rejected in June 2020, as a judge decided the indictment was not valid.
Awards
* Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, First Class (1971)
* Iliescu was awarded with Azerbaijani Istiglal Order
Istiglal Order ( az, Istiqlal ordeni), is the highest supreme order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, along with Heydar Aliyev Order. presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Istiglal means ''Sovereignty'' in Azerbaijani.
History ...
for his contributions to development of Azerbaijan-Romania relations and strategic cooperation between the states by President of Azerbaijan
The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of executive power, commander-in-chief, "representative of Azerbaijan in home and foreign policies", ...
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003.
The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...
on 6 October 2004.
* : Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of ...
*: Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay The Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a distinction of Uruguay created by Law No. 16300 and awarded by the Presidency of the Republic at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to foreign personalities, by reason of the princip ...
(1996)
* : Grand Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross
The Order of the White Double Cross ( sk, Rad Bieleho dvojkríža) is the highest state decoration of the Slovak Republic.
The Order was instituted on 1 March 1994 after Slovakia became independent on 1 January 1993. It continues the Czechoslova ...
(2002)
* : Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav
The Grand Order of King Tomislav ( hr, Velered kralja Tomislava), or officially the Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star (''Velered kralja Tomislava s lentom i Velikom Danicom''), is the highest state order of Croatia. It ...
("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Romania." – 12 May 2003)
* : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Civil Merit
The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...
– 10 June 2003
* : Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-ranking ...
– 15 October 2003
* : Order of the White Eagle (2003)
* : Knight of the Order of the Elephant
The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...
(2004)
* : Emblema de Onoare an Armatei României ("The Romanian Army's Badge of Honor") – 24 October 2012
* : Order of the Yugoslav Star
The Order of the Yugoslav Star sr, Орден југословенске звезде, ''Orden jugoslovenske zvezde'' sl, Red jugoslovanske zvezde mk, Орден на југословенската ѕвезда, ''Orden na jugoslovenskata zvezda'' ...
(2004)Odlikovanja šakom i kapom
at Blic, 9-9-2004
Electoral history
Presidential elections
References
Further reading
Vladimir Alexe—''Ion Iliescu – biografia secretă: "Candidatul manciurian"'' (Ion Iliescu – The Secret Biography: "The Manchurian Candidate")
(in Romanian), published by Ziaristi Online, 2000;
The supplement dedicated to Iliescu
(in Romanian), published by Academia Cațavencu
''Academia Cațavencu'' (, "The Cațavencu Academy") is a Romanian satirical magazine founded in 1991 and made famous by its investigative journalism. ''Academia Cațavencu'' also owns ''Radio Guerrilla' an FM radio station with national coverag ...
, 22 December 2004
External links
*
*
Ion Iliescu's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iliescu, Ion
1930 births
Living people
People of the Romanian Revolution
Presidents of Romania
Romanian communists
Romanian atheists
Romanian bloggers
Romanian dissidents
Members of the Great National Assembly
Members of the Senate of Romania
People from Oltenița
Moscow State University alumni
Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni
Presidents of the Social Democratic Party (Romania)
Recipients of the Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
Recipients of the Istiglal Order
Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great
Romanian propagandists
Moscow Power Engineering Institute alumni
Romanian democracy activists
Romanian expatriates in the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Mineriads
First Class of the Order of the Star of Romania
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
Romanian revolutionaries
Saint Sava National College alumni
Socialist rulers
Romanian people of Russian descent
Romanian people of Jewish descent
Romanian people of Bulgarian descent
Former Marxists
National Salvation Front (Romania) politicians