The military prosecutors that have been investigating the 1989 Romanian Revolution events decided to close the case on October 14, 2015, almost 26 years after the events.

The prosecutors have investigated the circumstances in which 709 people died and almost 2,200 were injured (1,855 of which shot) around December 22, 1989, during the events that led to the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorial regime in Romania. They didn’t prosecute anyone arguing that some of the people responsible for some of the crimes at the Revolution have already been convicted in other cases.

Moreover, the Prosecutor’s Office within the High Court of Cassation and Justice said that many soldiers shot each other during the December 1989 events, due to “fatigue and stress”. People in military, civil or mixed groups easily opened fire towards buildings or vehicles that didn’t stop at control filters, according to the prosecutors.

There have been two separate investigations into the December 1989 events, one that targeted the December 16-22 period, and one targeting the period after December 22. This date remained in history as the day when Nicolae Ceausescu, after being booed during his speech in front of tens of thousands of people in Bucharest’s Revolution Square a day before, decided to flee. It also marks the end of the Communist Regime in Romania.

Nicolae Ceausescu and other high officials of his regime have been found the main people responsible for the violent repression of the anti-communist protest that took place in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest between December 16 and 22, 1989. They ordered the army to shoot and arrest people in an attempt to prevent the protests from spreading to the rest of the country. The people responsible for issuing the orders have already been tried and convicted.

Ceausescu was caught and tried by a military court and executed together with his wife on December 25, 1989.

As for the violent events after December 22, the prosecutors said these were caused by the power vacuum, state of confusion, panic, and chaos” that followed Ceausescu’s departure. People feared that some loyal forces would help him return. This determined civil and military groups to start looking for counter-revolutionary factions that wanted to bring back Ceausescu, the so-called “terrorists”.

Due to the lack of cooperation and coordination, these groups ended out confronting and shooting at each other. The prosecutors found that even soldiers from the same units shot at each other.

However, they didn’t find anyone particular people responsible for the events and closed the investigation on all charges, including war crimes, genocide, and manslaughter.

The prosecutors’ decision to close the case can be appealed in 20 days.

Here are some of the most important videos of the events in December 1989:

Nicolae Ceausescu's speech on December 21, 1989

Ceausescu flees on December 22, 1989

Shootings near the public television's headquarters

Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu will be prosecuted for crimes against humanity

Video footage from the 1989 Romanian Revolution to be screened in downtown Bucharest

European Court of Human Rights finds against Romania in 1989 Revolution death investigation

editor@romania-insider.com