Romania exhumes Ceausescus' bodies
Source: Agencies |
July 22, 2010, Thursday
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TAKING the country by surprise, forensic scientists yesterday exhumed what are believed to be the bodies of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena to solve the mystery of where they are truly buried.
Ceausescu ruled Romania for 25 years with an iron fist before being ousted and executed during the 1989 anti-communist revolt in which more than 1,000 people were killed.
Some Romanians doubt that the Ceausescus were really buried in the Ghencea military cemetery in west Bucharest - including the couple's children. There is also some nostalgia for the communist period and regrets that the couple were executed on Christmas Day, 1989.
The news of the exhumation, the latest development in a five-year court case, broke as most Romanians were asleep. Officials rapidly closed the cemetery as dozens of journalists began arriving. Journalists were barred from the exhumation.
A team of pathologists and cemetery officials hoisted the wooden caskets of Ceausescu and his wife out of their graves yesterday. They then took samples from the corpses and put them into plastic bags - a process lasting more than two hours - before reburying the coffins.
Ceausescu's alleged remains were better preserved than those of his wife, said Mircea Oprean, the couple's son-in-law who was present at the exhumation.
"We are closer to knowing the truth," the couple's son Valentin Ceausescu, 62, said by phone.
Officials say it will take up to six months to determine the identity of the remains.
Ceausescu was toppled on December 22, 1989, as Romanians fed up with years of draconian rationing and communist rule revolted. He tried to flee Bucharest by helicopter but his pilot switched sides. After a summary trial, Ceausescu and his wife were executed by a firing squad three days later.
Oprean's wife, Zoia Ceausescu, had sued the defense ministry in 2005, saying she had doubts that her parents were buried in the cemetery. She died of cancer in 2006 and her brother Valentin took up the case. The couple's other son Nicu died of liver cirrhosis in 1996 and is buried in the same Ghencea cemetery.
Ceausescu was also known for the fierce way he stifled dissent with his Securitate secret police.
Ceausescu ruled Romania for 25 years with an iron fist before being ousted and executed during the 1989 anti-communist revolt in which more than 1,000 people were killed.
Some Romanians doubt that the Ceausescus were really buried in the Ghencea military cemetery in west Bucharest - including the couple's children. There is also some nostalgia for the communist period and regrets that the couple were executed on Christmas Day, 1989.
The news of the exhumation, the latest development in a five-year court case, broke as most Romanians were asleep. Officials rapidly closed the cemetery as dozens of journalists began arriving. Journalists were barred from the exhumation.
A team of pathologists and cemetery officials hoisted the wooden caskets of Ceausescu and his wife out of their graves yesterday. They then took samples from the corpses and put them into plastic bags - a process lasting more than two hours - before reburying the coffins.
Ceausescu's alleged remains were better preserved than those of his wife, said Mircea Oprean, the couple's son-in-law who was present at the exhumation.
"We are closer to knowing the truth," the couple's son Valentin Ceausescu, 62, said by phone.
Officials say it will take up to six months to determine the identity of the remains.
Ceausescu was toppled on December 22, 1989, as Romanians fed up with years of draconian rationing and communist rule revolted. He tried to flee Bucharest by helicopter but his pilot switched sides. After a summary trial, Ceausescu and his wife were executed by a firing squad three days later.
Oprean's wife, Zoia Ceausescu, had sued the defense ministry in 2005, saying she had doubts that her parents were buried in the cemetery. She died of cancer in 2006 and her brother Valentin took up the case. The couple's other son Nicu died of liver cirrhosis in 1996 and is buried in the same Ghencea cemetery.
Ceausescu was also known for the fierce way he stifled dissent with his Securitate secret police.
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