On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, the High Court of Cassation and Justice made the final ruling in the case of the former commander of the Periprava labor colony, Ioan Ficior, sentencing him to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity.

Ioan Ficior had been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on March 30, 2016.

Ficior was accused of enforcing and maintaining an extermination regime for the political prisoners detained at Periprava while he was occupying leading positions within this labor camp during 1958-1963. According to the prosecutors, the analyzed documents show that during the mentioned period 103 deaths were recorded.

The trial in the Ficior file started on April 28, 2015, following a criminal complaint filed by the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile. This is the second case in which a former communist prison commander is sent to trial after that of lt.-col. (r.) Alexandru Vişinescu, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity through the definitive ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice of February 10, 2016 and who is already in custody.

According to its legal framework, the Institute is authorized to carry out scientific investigations regarding the crimes, abuses and human rights infringement during the whole communist regime and to alert the competent authorities.

Starting with 2014, IICCMER filed other criminal complaints against former members of the communist repressive system: Constantin Istrate, former deputy commander for security and regime of the Oneşti labor camp, also former deputy commander for security and regime / commander of the Gherla Penitentiary; Tilici Neculai, prison commander; Fizula Refic, political officer; Sârbu Teodor, non-com of the Securitate; Petrescu Marian, former commander of some labor colonies and penitentiaries during the communist regime; Boştină Gheorghe, former political deputy commander.

On March 9, 2017, on the Day of the Anticommunist Political Prisoners from the 1944-1989 Period, the Prosecutor’s  Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice sent Marian Petrescu, former commander of the Galaţi penitentiary during February 1, 1959 – June 12, 1961, to trial.

For further information, please contact us at office@www.iiccmer.ro or by calling +40 21 316 7565.

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About IICCMER

The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and The Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) is a governmental structure established in 2005 and under the coordination of the Prime Minister. Its role consists, first of all, in scientifically managing and analyzing the totalitarian period and its consequences. Secondly, the IICCMER supports the creation and implementation of educational tools to a memorial end, thus contributing to the articulation of the context in which the fundamental values and rights to be captured by our post-totalitarian society. Last but not least, IICCMER aims to collect, archive and publish documents relating to the memory of the Romanian exile.

For further details on our work: https://www.iiccmer.ro or https://www.facebook.com/InstitutuldeInvestigareaCrimelorComunismului.