PROSECUTOR: So far, they have always claimed that we have built this country, we have paid our debts, but with this they bled the country to death and have hoarded enough money to ensure their escape. PROSECUTOR: Please, make a note: Nicolae Ceausescu refuses to cooperate with the court-appointed counsel for the defense. The Rise of Ceausescu Nicolae was a member of the communist youth movement. Workers, military units and other popular organizations were bused to the capitol and given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. One in four of the population is believed to have a member. . The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. After an outage of transmission of Romanian television, the speaker announces the verdict in the trial of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu is death sentence. They cultivated the soil in line with your orders and had nothing to eat. The balcony where Ceauescu delivered his last speech, taken over by the crowd during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 The speech was typical of most of Ceauescu's speeches over the years. What do you say as a citizen? Have you understood them? PROSECUTOR: This would serve your defense. CHIEF PROSECUTOR: Esteemed chairman of the court, today we have to pass a verdict on the defendants Nicolae Ceausescu and Elena Ceausescu who have committed the following offenses: Crimes against the people. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. The atmosphere was one of jubilation, and the over-riding feeling among the thousands celebrating in the city centre before the shooting began was one of undiluted triumph. This year, the crowd begins to chant unscripted comments back at the dictator. Transcript of the closed trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu, https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Transcript_of_the_closed_trial_of_Nicolae_and_Elena_Ceauescu&oldid=6470911, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The slippage that attracts the most attention of course, is discontent within the United States military. CEAUSESCU: You as officers should know that the government cannot give the order to shoot. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed. I will not answer any more. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. The archive focuses largely on the period from 1965, when Romania was ruled over by the Ceausescus, until. You should have stayed in Iran where you had flown to. Centralized Information as Hayek points out, eventually becomes the Official Lie. Description One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescu's December 21st speech (or lack thereof). They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. The message was apparently sent on the understanding that Mr Ceauescu had been arrested. Paper is patient. I am the president of the people. We have sacrificed all our lives to the people. The prosecutor asks the counsel for the defense to ask Ceauescu whether he knows that he is no longer president of the country, that Elena Ceauescu has also lost all her official state functions and that the government has been dissolved. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: Is it possible that we are facing such charges? Shakespeare dramatized the turnabout in his famous scene. Storm Over the South China Sea $0.99, how China is restarting history in the Pacific We must not allow the slightest impression of illegality to emerge. Now we finally saw your villa on television, the golden plates from which you ate, the foodstuffs that you had imported, the luxurious celebrations, pictures from your luxurious celebrations. PROSECUTOR: In the same way he refused to hold a dialogue with the people, now he also refuses to speak with us. They were given red flags, banners and large pictures of Ceauescu. Eight minutes into the speech, some in the crowd actually began to jeer, boo and whistle at hima reaction considered unthinkable for most of Ceauescus 24 years in power. But rebellion begins involuntarily, at the Hayekian level. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescus December 21st speech (or lack thereof). What happened? Elena Ceauescu's last moments were as pathetic as one could imagine. We will speak only at the National Assembly, because we have worked hard for the people all our lives. At that very moment, many everyday Romanians saw the weakness of Ceauescu's regime for the first time. Workers from a Bucharest power plant started chanting Ti-mi-oa-ra! The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. The palaces belong to the people. It is surpassingly perilous not only for the country, but also for the ruler who relies on it. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? All Rights Reserved. Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obamas Impeachment PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the early hours in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest, undeterred by armoured vehicles. The video- shown live on Romanian television-- shows his confusion and consternation and the barely audible comments. His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. Dressed in a black Persian lamb hat with matching coat collar, Ceausesecu, 71, was . Ceauescus hated son, Nicu, a one-time candidate to follow his father as the countrys leader, was said to have been arrested in the city of Sibiu as he was trying to take hostages. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. Now we are making a last attempt. In the wake of growing tension over an uprising in Timioara in which thousands were reportedly killed, Ceauescu decided to give a nationally televised speech before a crowd in Palace Square . Fanatics, whom you are paying. We have data concerning both of them. For example, there isa silent falling away among American allies. You cannot talk to me in such a way! But their triumph was marred by the first confused reports of fresh bloodshed in the early evening following heavy machine-gun fire in Bucharests Republic Square. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. I am the president of the people. The notorious programme of razing villages in the countryside would be halted. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: What? But we are not talking about people. PROSECUTOR: And who heads Securitate? We are all equal. A lie, a lie in my face. 20072021 Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media ELENA CEAUSESCU: I will not answer. I would not call for the death sentence, but it would be incomprehensible for the Romanian people to have to go on suffering this great misery and not to have it ended by sentencing the two Ceauescus to death. ELENA CEAUSESCU: The terrorists are from Securitate. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. As a simple citizen, I tell you the following: For the first time I guaranteed that every peasant received 200 kilograms of wheat per person, not per family, and that he is entitled to more. This is our home. If you had had a mental illness and admitted this, you would not be responsible for your acts. PROSECUTOR: And who wrote the papers for you, Elena? Ceausescu begins his address to the people as he had in years past but this year the tide turned. Then follows the reading of the indictment. The Man at the Top increasingly pulls on disconnected controls, yet still imagines he is in charge. The Securitate had hidden food reserves on which Bucharest could have survived for months, the whole of Bucharest. I do not recognize the court. You see, there is no use in talking to these people. The prosecutor turns to Elena: You have always been wiser and more ready to talk, a scientist. It should be stated once and for all that this military court is absolutely legal and that the former positions of the two Ceauescus are no longer valid. You have destroyed the Romanian villages and the Romanian soil. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. Another question . NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No one recognizes that. Storm Over The South China Sea I have observed that she is not even able to read correctly, but she calls herself an university graduate. The crimes against the people grew year by year. Free shipping for many products! They not only deprived the people of heating, electricity and foodstuffs, they also tyrannized the soul of the Romanian people. Two: Armed attack on the people and the state power, in accordance with Article 163 of the penal code. I am talking to you as simple citizens at the least, as simple citizens, and I tell you: I am the president of Romania. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers salaries He did not realize, however, that a real revolution was starting before his eyes. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court. Now the counsel for the defense, who was appointed by the court, asks whether Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu know the aforementioned facts that he is no longer president, that she has lost all official functions. No one wanted to do anything for you anymore. We are all equal. PROSECUTOR: The Grand National Assembly has been dissolved. Romanian demonstrators gathered in front of the headquarters of the Romanian Communist Party in Bucharest during the 1989 anti-communist revolution, 22 December 1989. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide or did you, as a chemist, only deal with polymers? Only a president who is still confirmed in his position can demand to speak at the Grand National Assembly. PROSECUTOR: Note - He does not recognize the points mentioned in the bill of indictment. A later article shows that Australia is moving toward purchasing Japanese submarines to replace its existing fleet. They organized the putsch. Ti-mi-oa-ra!a chant that was soon picked up by others in the crowd. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. Do you want to sign this statement? PROSECUTOR: Children cannot even buy plain candy, and you are living in the palaces of the people. Their son, Nicu, was shown on television under arrest. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. . I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. Why did you make the peasants starve? CEAUSESCU: No one recognizes that. Tell us! And I also do not recognize the counsel for the defense.