Ilie Ilașcu (born 30 July 1952) is a Moldovan-born Romanian politician, especially known for being

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

by the

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

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 violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

by Transnistrian government officials.

Political activity

Born in Taxobeni,

Fălești district Fălești () is a district () in the north of Moldova, with the administrative center at Fălești. As of 1 January 2011, its population was 92,600. It borders the Western Moldavia region of Romania. 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 Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...

. Ilașcu became known for his opposition to Moldovan Communist Party politics regarding the

Moldovan language Moldovan or Moldavian (Romanian alphabet, Latin alphabet: , Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet: ) is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. ''Moldovan'' was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the Cons ...

, for openly advocating the usage of

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a 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 Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

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 9 July 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 5 September 1989 as he spoke at a meeting in Tiraspol in favour of the language laws passed by the

Moldovan parliament The parliament of the Republic of Moldova () is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature of ...

, 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'', which advocated the union of Moldova and Romania."Moldova Trial Draws Protest", in ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 12 December 1993. pg. A.19 He is a leader of the

Democratic Forum of Romanians in Moldova The Democratic Forum of the Romanians of Moldova () is a civic movement, which brings together over 120 NGOs, several leading public organizations of Moldova and a whole number of academicians, writers, journalists. In 2006, the organization clai ...

. In 2010, Ilașcu announced he will support

Mihai Ghimpu Mihai Ghimpu (born 19 November 1951) is a Moldovan politician who served as Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, President of the Moldovan Parliament and President of Moldova#Republic of Moldova (1991–present), Acting President of Moldova from 2 ...

and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

The Ilașcu group trial

On 2 June 1992, he and three more ethnic Romanians ( Andrei Ivanțoc, Alexandru Leșco and Tudor Petrov Popa) were arrested by the breakaway

n government and charged with the murder of two separatist officials. Ilie Ilascu

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 The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

, 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 Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

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

branch of the Popular Front, a Moldovan party which favours a union with Romania. For years he was kept in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

without access to family and medical assistance. While in the Transnistrian prison, Ilașcu was elected twice to the

Moldovan Parliament The parliament of the Republic of Moldova () is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature of ...

on the lists of the Democratic Christian Popular Front, in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and 1998 election. In October 2000, he received Romanian citizenship, after which he renounced his Moldovan citizenship. In the same year, he was elected to the

Senate of Romania 2012–2016 2008–2012 In December 2008, the Democratic Liberal Party (Romania), Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the Alliance PSD+PC, political alliance established between the Social Democratic Party of Romania, Social Democratic Party ...

for the

Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party (, PRM) is a Romanian far-right political party. Founded in May 1991 by Eugen Barbu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor, it was led by the latter from that point until his death in September 2015. The party is sometimes referred ...

, 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 there a ...

. Reelected in 2004, Ilașcu served as a member of the Senate until 2008.

Release

Ilașcu was eventually released on 5 May 2001, two years after he filed an application with the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

and following a verdict of the European Court for Human Rights, where he had sued both

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. The other three members of the group were released as follows: * Andrei Ivanțoc – 2 June 2007 * Alexandru Leșco – 2 June 2004 * Tudor Petrov Popa – 4 June 2007 Russian authorities denied any involvement in the affair.

Ilașcu and Others v. Moldova and Russia

The

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 a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

) of Ilie Ilașcu and the other three people arrested by the Transnistrian government. The ruling came after a legal process that began in 1999. 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 Regnum may refer to: * Latin for kingdom or dominion, see realm * ''Regnum'', Latin word for Kingdom (biology) * REGNUM News Agency, a Russian news agency * '' Champions of Regnum'', a computer game * An online database for PhyloCode The ''Intern ...

"Молдавская "Группа Илашку" - террористы или политзеки?"
3 June 2005 Under the court's decision, Russia was to pay Ilașcu 187,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

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 Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

, 2001 *

Order of the Republic (Moldova) The Order of the Republic () is Moldova's highest Order (decoration), order. It is awarded by the President of Moldova for exceptional merits in all fields which benefit Moldova and humanity as a whole. The order was established in July 1992 and i ...

, 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)