Ilie Ilaşcu

Ilie Ilaşcu (born July 30, 1952) is a Moldovan-born Romanian politician, famous for being sentenced to death by the separatist Transnistrian government for alleged involvement in two murders and for actions which have been described as Moldovan state-sponsored terrorism by Transnistrian government officials. [ [http://mkspmr.idknet.com/content/view/9/230/ MGB leadership does not rule out the possibility of attacks carried out by people living in Transnistria] ]

Political activity

Born in Taxobeni, Ilaşcu worked as chief economist at a factory in Tiraspol. He became known for his opposition against Moldovan Communist Party politics regarding Moldovan language, openly advocating the usage of Latin script and recognition of Moldovan-Romanian identity, as well as giving the status of official language for Moldovan.

His opponents nicknamed him "glavnîi extremist" (chief extremist) instead of "glavnîi economist" (chief economist). In January 1989 he was one of the founders of a Moldovan association in Tiraspol. On July 9, 1989 he was arrested for the first time, being released with excuses after few days. Also in 1989 he was dismissed from his job, but was able to regain his position after appealing to the prosecutor office. On September 5, 1989 as he spoke at a meeting in Tiraspol in favour of the language laws passed by the Moldovan parliament, he was taken away by policemen, who needed to protect him from the crowd of political opponents ["What the nationalists want?", interview with Ilie Ilaşcu in "Moldova" nr. 1/1990] .

Starting with 1989, he was the president of the Tiraspol branch of the "Moldovan Popular Front", which advocated the union of Moldova and Romania."Moldova Trial Draws Protest", in "New York Times", December 12, 1993. pg. A.19]

The Ilaşcu group trial

On June 2, 1992, he and three more ethnic Romanians, members of the "Ilaşcu group" (Ilaşcu together with Andrei Ivanţoc, Alexandru Leşco and Tudor Petrov Popa) were arrested by the breakaway Transnistrian government and charged with the murder of two separatist officials.

On December 9, 1993, the Supreme Court of Transnistria found him guilty of a number of offences defined in the Criminal Code of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, including incitement to commit an offence against national security, organisation of activities with the aim of committing extremely dangerous offences against the State, murdering a representative of the State with the aim of spreading terror, premeditated murder, unlawfully requisitioning means of transport, deliberate destruction of another's property and illegal or unauthorised use of ammunition or explosives.

Ilaşcu was sentenced to be shot and the other three defendants were sentenced to hard labour for terms between 12 and 15 years. They had no right of appeal. During the trial, the defendants were kept in reinforced iron cages, as they were considered "extremely dangerous". This decision was contested by various international human rights organizations, which doubted the fairness of the trial and alleged that they were prosecuted only because they were members of the Tiraspol branch of the Popular Front, a Moldovan party which favours a union with Romania. For years he was kept in solitary confinement without access to family and medical assistance.

While in the Transnistrian prison, Ilaşcu was elected twice in the Moldovan Parliament on the lists of the Democratic Christian Popular Front, in 1994 and 1998.

In October 2000, he received Romanian citizenship, after which he renounced his Moldovan citizenship. ["Moldovan MP renounces Moldovan citizenship", Rompres news agency, Bucharest, October 20, 2000] In the same year, he was elected to the Senate of Romania for the Greater Romania Party, representing Bacău County.

Release

Ilaşcu was eventually released in 2001, two years after he filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights and following a verdict of the European Court for Human Rights [ [http://www.echr.coe.int/eng/press/2004/July/GrandChamberjudgmentIlascuandOthersvMoldovaandRussia.htm The press release of the grand chamber judgment in the case of Ilaşcu and others v. Moldova and Russia - 2004] ] , where he sued both Russia and Moldova.

The other three members of his group have been released after the timeline of his sentence was over:
* Andrei Ivanţoc - June 2, 2007
* Alexandru Leşco - June 2, 2004
* Tudor Petrov Popa - June 4, 2007

His release is now generally attributed to international pressure on Russia, which in turn put pressure on Transnistria. Another significant element adding to the pressure on Russian authorities was that Ilaşcu was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (wherein Russia is also represented) ever since his election to the Romanian Senate. However, the Russian authorities denied any involvement. ["Russia denies part in Moldovan radical's detention", Interfax news agency, Moscow, July 3, 2001]

The European Court of Human Rights judged in 2004 that the authorities have infringed the human rights (as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights) of Ilie Ilaşcu and the other three people arrested by the Transnistrian government.

References

External links

* [http://Ivantoc.org/white.htm THE ILAŞCU TRIAL - White Paper of the Romanian Helsinki Committee - 1992]
* [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/eur/870.htm US Department of State - Moldova, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000]
* [http://weblog.leidenuniv.nl/fdr/1948/2007/03/how_russia_hijacks_the_european_court_of_human_rights_1.php How Russia hijacks the European Court of Human Rights]