Bucharest Court of Appeal has sentenced Communist-era prison commander Alexandru Visinescu to 20 years in prison, in a case in which he is charged with crimes against humanity.  Prosecutors had asked a 25-year sentence.

Visinescu, 89, was not in the court to hear the sentence, which is not final, reports local Digi24. He is the first Romanian Communist torturer sent to trial in such a case.

Visinescu ran Ramnicu Sarat prison between 1956 and 1963. Under his command, prisoners were subjected to beatings, hunger, a lack of medical treatment and exposure to cold. He oversaw the incarceration of many pre-Communist elite and intellectuals such as Corneliu Coposu, Ion Diaconescu and Ion Mihalache, the founder and leader of the Agrarian Party, who died in 1963 while serving a life sentence.

Alexandru Visinescu’s trial started in September last year. He has constantly denied the charges, saying he has just done his job.

Visinescu currently lives in Bucharest and has a pension of RON 3,200 (some EUR 720). He was the first Romanian to face the charge of genocide since former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed in 1989.

Romania had about 500,000 political prisoners under the Communist regime.

Romanian commander of Communist-era prison charged with genocide. 

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com