The two Romanian People's Tribunals ( ro, Tribunalele Poporului), the Bucharest People's Tribunal and the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

) were set up by the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

government of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, overseen by the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Easter ...

to try suspected war criminals, in line with Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement with Romania which said: "The Romanian Government and High Command undertake to collaborate with the Allied (

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 ...

) High Command in the apprehension and trial of persons accused of war crimes". References RICHR: Ch.12 - Trials of the war criminals, page 5The Armistice Agreement with Rumania
in Avalon Project at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

Some 2,700 cases were examined by a commission which found that in about half the cases there was enough evidence to bring prosecutions. 668 were found guilty of war crimes,

crimes against peace A crime of aggression or crime against peace is the planning, initiation, or execution of a large-scale and serious act of aggression using state military force. The definition and scope of the crime is controversial. The Rome Statute contains an ...

and crimes against humanity. References RICHR: Ch.12 - Trials of the war criminals, page 1 The

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Tribunal sentenced a total of 187 people. At the main trial, in May 1946, of the leaders of the former Fascist government of Ion Antonescu, twenty four defendants stood before the Tribunal. The court handed down 13 death sentences, but six were pronounced ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

'' and never carried out. Of the remaining seven death sentences, 3 were commuted to life imprisonment. Ion Antonescu,

Mihai Antonescu Mihai Antonescu (18 November 1904 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during World War II, executed in 1946 as a war criminal. Early career Born in Nucet, Dâmbovița County, w ...

, Constantin Vasiliu and Gheorghe Alexianu were executed on June 1, 1946 at

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as '' ...

prison. The other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, or long terms of imprisonment. References RICHR: Ch.12 - Trials of the war criminals, page 2 The Cluj Tribunal and it successors sentenced 481 people: 370 were Hungarian, 83 were German, 26 were Romanian and 2 were Jewish. The Cluj Tribunal passed a total of 100 death sentences (none carried out), 163 sentences of life imprisonment, and a range of other sentences. A high percentage of those condemned to death (including Hungarian writer

Albert Wass Count Albert Wass de Szentegyed et Czege ( hu, gróf szentegyedi és cegei Wass Albert; January 8, 1908 – February 17, 1998) was a Hungarian nobleman, forest engineer, novelist, poet, and member of the Wass de Czege family. Wass was born in ...

) were tried in absentia and never brought to justice. Others sentenced to death had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Those convicted of war crimes, who had demonstrated good behaviour in prison were eligible for immediate release under a decree issued in 1950. Quite a few convicted war criminals were released under the provisions of this decree. The rest were released between 1962 and 1964 when a number of amnesties were granted. References RICHR: Ch.12 - Trials of the war criminals, page 3

Footnotes

References

Report of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania
(RICHR) submitted to President

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania 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 ...

in Bucharest on November 11, 2004
and accepted by the Romanian government

Ch.12 - Trials of the war criminals
(PDF) *Zoltan Tibori Szabo
Transylvanian jewry during the postwar period, 1945-48 (Part 2)
' "The People's Tribunals, Intra-Community Accusations and Inquiries"

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 ...

Details on the Northern Transylvanian People's Tribunal in Cluj {{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples Tribunals Judiciary of Romania History of Bucharest History of Cluj-Napoca Romanian People's Tribunals People's Tribunal

See also

Footnotes

References