Capital Punishment in Romania - Communist Romania

Communist Romania

Two statutes dealing with war crimes were passed in 1945; the following year, Antonescu and a number of his followers were executed by firing squad. Between 1945 and 1964, largely corresponding with the rule of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, 137 people were executed in Romania, including Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, Eugen Ţurcanu, the Ioanid Gang, the Berne group, members of the anti-communist resistance movement and protesters during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. These executions came following a 1949 law providing the death penalty for offences against the communist state and the planned economy. The amended 1936 Code provided for the death penalty for some crimes against the state, peace and humanity, for aggravated murder and for burglary resulting in death; in 1957, large-scale embezzlement causing serious damage to the national economy was added to the list. In 1958, the act of contacting foreigners in order to provoke the state into neutrality or an act of war was made subject to the death penalty; this was a clear reference to measures taken by Imre Nagy during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and was made more urgent by the withdrawal of Soviet occupying forces that summer, which led the regime to clamp down on internal dissent. The definition of "economic sabotage" and "hooliganism" was broadened, and the first executions under the new measures took place that autumn. Under Nicolae Ceauşescu, a new Penal Code adopted in 1969 featured 28 capital offences, including economic and property crimes. This number was substantially reduced in the 1970s; in particular, the death penalty for economic crimes was abolished. Among those executed during this period were Ion Rîmaru and Gheorghe Ştefănescu. From 1980 to 1989, 57 death sentences were passed, and at least fifty executions carried out. Most convictions involved murder, but some were for large-scale theft of state property. For instance, in 1983, five individuals were sentenced to die for organized and systematic stealing of large quantities of meat.

During Ceauşescu's entire time in power (1965–89), 104 people were executed by firing squad at Jilava and Rahova prisons, with commutations reinforcing his image as a stern but kind father to the nation. At Jilava, prisoners were taken outside, to the right side of the prison, tied to a post and shot by six, ten or even twelve junior officers, while at Rahova, they were shot in an underground room; the entire process was shrouded in secrecy. Executions normally happened days after an appeal was rejected, and those shot at Jilava were usually buried in the village cemetery. Minors, pregnant women and women with children aged under 3 were exempt from the death penalty. Romania's last executions came during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 — those of Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu.