Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Why is this case being tried in a military court?

One wonders why this Romanian case, as reported by Reuters, is being tried in a military court. Excerpt:
Romania’s top military court on Friday launched a criminal inquiry into former President Ion Iliescu and ex-prime minister Petre Roman over deaths which occurred after thousands of miners stormed demonstrations in the capital in 1990. 
The court said the two, together with the then head of the secret service and several other officials had a role in the killing of four people during clashes with crowds protesting against Iliescu’s rise to power after the 1989 fall of communist rule. 
“During June 11-15, 1990, the subjects of this probe for crimes against humanity, agreed and masterminded a generalised and systematic attack against civilians, demonstrators and against the population of Bucharest,” said a court prosecutor reading out an inquiry document.
In June 1990, a month after the first post-Communist democratic elections, Moscow-educated Iliescu summoned 20,000 coal miners to save his ruling National Salvation Front from what he called a “fascist coup attempt”. 
Prosecutors say they suspect Iliescu of crimes against humanity relating to the violence that ensued between June 13 and June 15 after months of peaceful demonstrations in Bucharest’s main square.
The charged conduct does not sound like a crime against humanity. 

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