Trials of Ceausescu’s Son, Cronies Begin This Week

Trials of Nicolae Ceausescu’s eldest son and his Communist cronies are expected to begin this week, Romanian state television said Sunday.

The TV showed Valentin Ceausescu, former Communist Party Secretary Emil Bobu, former Interior Minister Tudor Postelnicu, Marin Neagoe, who directed personal security for Ceausescu, and Dimitru Popescu, former director of the Sociopolitical Academy.

The five are being investigated for abetting genocide and sabotaging the economy, which was squeezed dry by Ceausescu’s payoff of the Romanian foreign debt of more than $10 billion, Romanian television said.

Interim Foreign Minister Sergiu Celac told foreign reporters that Romania’s economy is in “almost complete ruin” and that the country needs massive food imports.

The genocide allegation refers to the thousands reported killed during December’s popular uprising, as well as other victims of Ceausescu’s repressive 24-year reign.

Valentin Ceausescu, Ceausescu’s eldest son, was a member of the Communist Party’s policy-setting Central Committee. Bobu was Ceausescu’s closest associate--after the dictator’s wife, Elena--in running Romania.

Ceausescu’s youngest son, Nicu, and his daughter, Zoe, were arrested soon after his regime was overthrown. But they were not shown on TV over the weekend.

There was no indication exactly when or where the trials will take place, but interim President Ion Iliescu has said the trials will be televised. Some trials of the dreaded Securitate special police have already begun.