
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030411
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA                                LENGTH: Medium

BROTHER OF ROMANIAN DICTATOR GOES ON TRIAL

The brother of Romania's late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu went on trial Monday accused of killing seven people during last December's bloody revolution that ended more than 40 years of Communist rule.

Andruta Ceausescu, 66, a former deputy interior minister and police general, is charged with "aggravated murder," instigation to commit genocide, and attempted murder, for his part in efforts to suppress the popular revolt that ended his brother's 24-year hold on power.

Under Romanian law "aggravated murder" is the slaying of more than one person.

According to the indictment, the defendant ordered some 1,000 police cadets under his command to fire on thousands of demonstrators in the streets of Bucharest on Dec. 21 through 22. When they refused, he allegedly shot seven protesters.

Ceausescu has denied the accusations but has admitted the lesser charge of illegal possession of firearms, the indictment said.

The defendant sat flanked by two helmeted policemen and gazed impassively at a three-man panel of military judges headed by Col. Igon Dima. Ceausescu bears an eerie physical resemblance to his late brother.

The document quoted witnesses among the security forces who testified that "he was shouting like a beast and shot his gun" at the crowds.

"He acted to suppress the revolution and fired his gun, killing seven persons," the indictment said.

At one point during the trial, the parents of one of the alleged victims, tears streaming from their eyes, accused defense attorney Vasile Soroceanu of "protecting this hyena."

But Ceausescu told the court he did not initiate orders to fire on the demonstrators.

"I did not give any orders on my own initiative to repress the demonstrators, but I passed on through my aides the orders I received from the minister of interior."

Nicolae Ceausescu was toppled Dec. 22 and executed three days later with his wife, Elena, after a summary trial before a military tribunal.

If found guilty, the maximum penalty Ceausescu can face is life imprisonment.

by CNB