Only the front rows supported Ceauescu with cheers and applause, with most of the crowd remaining impassive. PROSECUTOR: Who gave the order to shoot in Bucharest, for instance? If he no longer has a certain function, he cannot demand anything at all. I am talking to you as simple citizens at the least, as simple citizens, and I tell you: I am the president of Romania. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? We must not allow the slightest impression of illegality to emerge. The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. One day Obama may wake up and find the alliances just gone. This is a legal trial, and I honor them by defending them. They are shooting at children; they are shooting arbitrarily into the apartments. Then follows the reading of the indictment. PROSECUTOR: And who wrote the papers for you, Elena? Elena Ceauescu's last moments were as pathetic as one could imagine. Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants. By the way, I will not answer any more questions. We have sacrificed all our lives to the people. quotes Israeli oppositionists as accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of loathing Barack Obama so intensely it has endangering the Jewish states security. Not a single shot. The final speech of the prosecutor follows: PROSECUTOR: It is very difficult for us to act, to pass a verdict on people who even now do not want to admit to the criminal offenses that they have committed during 25 years and admit to the genocide, not only in Timisoara and Bucharest, but primarily also to the criminal offenses committed during the past 25 years. Elena and Nicolae Ceasescu state: Well, you told us about it. The next he was a hunted man. CEAUSESCU: Nobody can change the state structures. The streets and squares of Bucharest were littered with torn portraits and shattered busts of the President and his wife. The president of the United States is the commander in chief over all branches of the military. George thought about it for awhile and concluded he just couldnt. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: What? Elena answers: The intellectuals of this country should hear you, you and your colleagues. PROSECUTOR: We now have another leading organ. Centralized regimes may seem to collapse suddenly, yet in reality they have been coming apart for a long time. I now ask the court to pass a verdict on the basis of the law, because everybody must receive due punishment for the offenses he has committed. However, he had badly misread the crowd's mood. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENSE: Even though he like her committed insane acts, we want to defend them. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. You have information about it. I just couldnt convince myself to do it., He is not alone. CHIEF PROSECUTOR: Esteemed chairman of the court, today we have to pass a verdict on the defendants Nicolae Ceauescu and Elena Ceauescu who have committed the following offenses: crimes against the people. I am the president of the people. We live in a normal apartment, just like every other citizen. CEAUSESCU: I repeat: I am the president of Romania and the commander in chief of the Romanian army. Have you understood them? Just a genteel, inoffensive refusal from an old gent. The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli For example,the administration recently issued a new list of prisoners to be released from Guantanamo, citing theirpractice of yogaas proof they had reformed. PROSECUTOR: Please, ask Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu whether they have ever had a mental illness. The Man at the Top increasingly pulls on disconnected controls, yet still imagines he is in charge. They are cowards. 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 Ceausescus to death. The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. Immediately before them were plainclothes Securitate agents and a row of police militia, who kept the mass of the crowd about thirty yards back from the front of the Central Committee building. The court notes that the investigations have been concluded. 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. We have data concerning both of them. CEAUSESCU: No one recognizes that. Answer this question! Diane Dimond writes in Real Clear Politicsabout the low level grumbling that risen to detectable levels since the Bergdahl affair. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. , Now career military personnel are speaking out through gritted teeth, insisting they speak for active-duty personnel who cannot talk without being punished. Thirty years on, will the guilty pay for horror of Ceauescu orphanages? PROSECUTOR: Whether you have ever had a mental illness. The Times of Israel quotes Israeli oppositionists as accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of loathing Barack Obama so intensely it has endangering the Jewish states security. The story of Ceauescu's final speech is a textbook example. CEAUSESCU: This is not possible at all. Thousands of workers were bussed into the square under threat of being fired. The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. ALISON SMALE December 21, 1989. No, no, he says. However, they will be indicted, and a sentence will be passed on the basis of the new legal system. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: Her scientific papers were published abroad! 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. "Video of Ceausescus Last Speech, December 1989," Making the History of 1989, Item #696, https://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/items/show/696 (accessed May 28 2021, 3:24 pm). All the world should know what is going on here. I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. Nicolae Ceauescu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikola.e ta.uesku]; 26 January 1918 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the Secretary Gener. Here Nicolae Ceausescu steps in and defends her. Ceausescu answers: As I said before, the people are fighting for their freedom and against this putsch, against this usurpation. At some point the entire structure of governance becomes a system of workarounds with all real power devolved to the man on the ground. They not only killed children, young people and adults in Timisoara and Bucharest; they allowed Securitate members to wear military uniforms to create the impression among the people that the army is against them. 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. Free elections would be held as soon as possible, and independent media would be established. You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. PROSECUTOR: You claim to have taken measures so that every peasant is entitled to 200 kilograms of wheat. Only the front rows supported Ceauescu with cheers and applause, with most of the crowd remaining impassive. The History: Last Speech, Trial and Execution Decades of brutal oppression under the Ceausescu regime came to a head in Timisoara, earlier that same December. This is a vulgar provocation. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu should be punished in a really legal trial. I will not answer any question. PROSECUTOR: Note: He does not recognize the points mentioned in the bill of indictment. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. Do you want to sign this statement? Ceauescu's final speech is a speech delivered by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu on 21 December 1989. He also refuses to recognize the new forum. Every honest citizen who worked hard here until 22 December knows that we do not have medicines, that you two have killed children and other people in this way, that there is nothing to eat, no heating, no electricity. Recent items of interest by Belmont readers based on Amazon click-throughs. Ford said of his resignation,I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy. Sooner or later inability to credit yoga or videos produced in Los Angeles as actual factors becomes more and more widespread. VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ For the first time that anybody could remember, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu was interrupted at a public speech by boos and jeers that began a huge demonstration against him in Bucharest Thursday. Here Nicolae Ceauescu steps in and defends her. PROSECUTOR: Please, ask Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu whether they have ever had a mental illness. These two defendants procured the most luxurious foodstuffs and clothes from abroad. Rebranding Christianity for $3.99, or why the truth shall make you free The prosecutor agrees, but stresses that they lived in them while the people suffered. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. PROSECUTOR: Why do you think that people are fighting today? This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to ensure both success and the appearance of popular support. Frederich Hayek identified the primary reason why tyrants fall: they rely on the poisoned cup of centralized knowledge. In addition, the law forbids the IRS from using its normal enforcement tools to collect unpaid penalties. By the way, I will not answer any more questions. The produce which the peasants grew was exported, and the peasants came from the most remote provinces to Bucharest and to the other cities in order to buy bread. The palaces belong to the people. Earlier, joyful crowds had paraded through the city after reports that Mr Ceauescu had been arrested after trying to flee from the roof of the party headquarters by helicopter. In 1947, we assumed power, but under completely different circumstances. It is a historic time, given that no military member goes public to speak negatively about the ultimate commander. The mighty Law of the Land is exposed as all bark and no bite; a fine they cant enforce. PROSECUTOR: The people are fighting against you, not against the new forum. PROSECUTOR: You have never been able to hold a dialogue with the people. They are cowards. The Soviet Parliament expressed its approval of the fall of President Ceauescu and sent to the Romanian people a special message of support proposed by President Gorbachev. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? The prosecutor turns to Elena: You have always been wiser and more ready to talk, a scientist. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this new forum. You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. ELENA CEAUSESCU: I will not answer. Sooner or later an administration neuters itself from sheer implausibility. I am now talking to you as simple citizens, and I hope that you will tell the truth. After many people began to exit the square, Ceauescu shouted over the public address system for them to "remain seated". I have observed that she is not even able to read correctly, but she calls herself an university graduate. Do you want to sign this statement? No one can ask Bergdahl, since he is now reported as being unable to speak to anyone including his family. The recent Bergdahl prisoner swap in which five hardened Taliban terrorists were released from prison is rubbing a lot of the military veterans attending D-Day events the wrong way. Ford said of his resignation,I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy. Sooner or later inability to credit yoga or videos produced in Los Angeles as actual factors becomes more and more widespread. Military base Tirgoviste - December 25th 1989. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world. CEAUSESCU: I will not answer. Now you know what members of our U.S. military are thinking and saying. PROSECUTOR: Note the following: The defendant refuses to sign this statement. You are faced with charges that you held really sumptuous celebrations on all holidays at your house. And I also do not recognize the counsel for the defense. The process usually follows this path. Suntem in fata unui tribunal al poporului. Nobody has the right to abolish the Grand National Assembly. The defendant has not recognized us. Fuelled by the events taking place in Berlin (the wall had come down just a few weeks before) and the ripple impact of the weakening Iron Curtain, Romanians had taken to the streets in . Since the old government has been dissolved and Ceauescu has lost his functions, he no longer has the right to be treated as the president. Please make a note that here it has been stated that all legal regulations have been observed, that this is a legal trial. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. Last modified on Sun 29 Mar 2020 07.01 EDT President Nicolae Ceauescu was overthrown yesterday and became a fugitive in the country he has ruled for 24 years as remnants of his personal troops. PROSECUTOR: This situation is known. The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu was held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of a newly formed group called the National Salvation Front. This was a coup d'etat. PROSECUTOR: Nicolae Ceausescu should tell us why he does not answer our questions. At that very moment, many everyday Romanians saw the weakness of Ceauescu's regime for the first time. The two defendants should also know that they are entitled to a counsel for defense, even if they reject this. What about the accounts? PROSECUTOR: Please, make a note: Ceausescu does not recognize the new legal structures of power of the country. Tyrannies are buried by the shovel of self-deception. And who brought them into the country? Are they the people, or are you paying them? A voice in the studio said that the army was wholly on the side of the people. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. They are not only accused of offenses committed during the past few days, but of offenses committed during the past 25 years. You told us about it here. CEAUSESCU: Is it possible that we are facing such charges? CEAUSESCU: Her scientific papers were published abroad! Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu must be held fully responsible for this. CEAUSESCU: We will discuss this before the Grand National Assembly. He did not realize, however, that a real revolution was starting right before his eyes. Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual Marxist-Leninist wooden language. However, he had badly misread the crowds mood. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. The bill of indictment contains the following points: Genocide, in accordance with Article 356 of the penal code. In response, the two laugh, and she says: We do not stay abroad. CEAUSESCU: I do not recognize this new forum. All strategic points in the country were said to be under the control of the people. No, no, he says. We are all equal. Answer this question! One in four of the population is believed to have a member. He would be executed a few days later. They are not only accused of offenses committed during the past few days, but of offenses committed during the past 25 years. PROSECUTOR: Did you hear the charges? Nicolae Ceauescu had been making speeches for over a couple of decades. Video of Ceausescu's Last Speech, December 1989 Annotation One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescu's December 21st speech (or lack thereof). All Rights Reserved. The message was apparently sent on the understanding that Mr Ceauescu had been arrested. Now we are making a last attempt. Furnish proof! Like a jalopy falling apart on the road, dropping a screw here and a spring there, the Obama administration is gradually shaking itself to pieces. I do not recognize the court. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. PROSECUTOR: Children cannot even buy plain candy, and you are living in the palaces of the people. Why did you ruin the country so much: Why did you export everything? About Ceauescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. Storm Over The South China Sea In 1947, we assumed power, but under completely different circumstances. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17U.S.C. It must be cleared up whether Ceausescu wants to, should, must or can answer at all. A tyrant stops knowing the difference. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court. Ceausescu relates his recent meeting with Dubcek in Prague in August 1968. Nobody has opened an account. 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. His 1936 mugshot at age 18 still haunts the internet. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. Its bulletins provide a dramatic account of the most important day in Romanias history since the Communist takeover in 1948. The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceauescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. A little noticed article in the Sydney Morning Herald notes that Australia will support Japans effort to repeal its pacifist constitution. PROSECUTOR: The terrorists are from Securitate? Tell the people that I will answer all their questions. Their son, Nicu, was shown on television under arrest. This shows again how false the charges are. You have acted in a very irresponsible manner; you led the country to the verge of ruin and you will be convicted on the basis of the points contained in the bill of indictment. No one can dissolve the National Assembly. Finally, I would like to refer once more to the genocide, the numerous killings carried out during the past few days. In 1947, King Michael showed more dignity than you. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. I will only speak at the Grand National Assembly. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. Since the old government has been dissolved and Ceausescu has lost his functions, he no longer has the right to be treated as the president. Those moments of Ceausescus weakness and the power of popular pressure explain why, a mere 48 hours later, Ceausescu was attempting to flee Romania, all power lost. Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban Ti-mi-oa-ra! These two defendants procured the most luxurious foodstuffs and clothes from abroad. He was Secre. Elena keeps whispering to him. As the other primary sources reveal, the Ceausescus were tried a few days later and executed as enemies of the new Romanian state. Whatever the reason, the result is that the penalty will raise $27 billion less over the next decade than the CBO had originally expected. They used to fetch people from orphans' homes or from abroad whom they trained in special institutions to become murderers of their own people. Dressed in a black Persian lamb hat with matching coat collar, Ceausesecu, 71, was . Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants. In response, Ceauescu raised his right hand in hopes of silencing the crowd; his stunned expression remains one of the defining moments of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe. After an outage of transmission of Romanian television, the speaker announces the verdict in the trial of Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu is death sentence. This gang will be destroyed. And Elena says: It is incredible what they are inventing, incredible. The notorious programme of razing villages in the countryside would be halted. Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers This year, the crowd begins to chant unscripted comments back at the dictator. Did you know that you can purchase some of these books and pamphlets by Richard Fernandez and share them with you friends? This year, the crowd begins to chant unscripted comments back at the dictator. Despite this, I ask the court to make a decision which we will be able to justify later as well. CEAUSESCU: I will not answer this question. . In the essay The Use of Knowledge in Society, Hayek argued that in complex systems the relevant facts are dispersed among many people. PROSECUTOR: Who gave the order to shoot in Bucharest, for instance? 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. You see, there is no use in talking to these people. He had been falling for a long time, and proved the last to know. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. Elena and Nicolae reject this. As hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when . No one can dissolve the National Assembly. They obstructed the normal process of the economy. Grandiose plans are announced, pivots are ordered, Red Lines are drawn, all manner of schemes are announced with a maximum of hoopla but everybody ignores it they know the latest fad will pass and the regime will Move On. The bill of indictment contains the following points: Genocide, in accordance with Article 356 of the penal code. PROSECUTOR: Why do you think that people are fighting today? Sections in italic type are from the austrian television comentary: NICOLAE CEAUSESCU: I only recognize the Grand National Assembly. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. The crimes against the people grew year by year. a silent falling away among American allies. They were only busy enslaving the people and building up an apparatus of power. PROSECUTOR: We have always spoken of equality. The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. You have acted in a very irresponsible manner; you led the country to the verge of ruin and you will be convicted on the basis of the points contained in the bill of indictment. There is still shooting going on, the prosecutor says. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? At the beginning, Ceauescu claimed that it is a provocation to be asked whether he was sick. 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. I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. Eight minutes into the speech, some in the crowd actually began to scream because there was a shooting that occurred in the background. The prosecutor quotes Ceausescu, Ceausescu's program. Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of the former President and his wife, Elena, last night. . Defendant, if you had no accounts in Switzerland, will you sign a statement confirming that the money that may be in Switzerland should be transferred to the Romanian state, the State Bank. Ceausescu's last speech was interrupted but not by the shouts of the masses. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly -- no one else. PROSECUTOR: This would serve your defense. The following is a transcript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceauescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? PROSECUTOR: Well, Mr. Another question to Ceausescu: Who ordered the bloodbath in Timisoara. This gang will be destroyed. He still considers himself to be the country's president and the commander in chief of the army. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. What do you think? I ask the chairman of the prosecutor's office to read the bill of indictment. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I repeat: I am the president of Romania and the commander in chief of the Romanian army. CEAUSESCU: No, no. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee of Comunmunist Party of Romania building, in Bucharest, Romania, on 21 December 1989, and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual `wooden language`. This is our home. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. The archive focuses largely on the period from 1965, when Romania was ruled over by the Ceausescus, until. What may happen of course, is that like a frog slowly being boiled in a pot, the process happens so slowly that people arent aware of it themselves. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not answer. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? The prosecutor quotes Ceauescu, Ceauescu's program. The court notes that the investigations have been concluded. It doesnt happen as one big wave. A photo of a television screen of Nicolae Ceauescu delivering his last public speech from the balcony of the Romanian Communist Party headquarters, 21 December 1989. Then he is treated like a normal citizen. By 6 pm, Romanian television was broadcasting live reports of victory rallies attended by thousands in Bucharest. I will not answer any more. First their narratives become so infested with lies they go out of sync with their own administrators on the ground. A lie, a lie in my face. This shows again how false the charges are. One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescus December 21st speech (or lack thereof). His talks with Dubcek focused primarily on the events that had unfolded in Czechoslovakia over the last several months. After an outage of transmission of Romanian television, the speaker announces the verdict in the trial of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu is death sentence. ELENA CEAUESCU: Accounts in Switzerland? NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not sign anything. A horse or a hearse? PROSECUTOR: In the same way he refused to hold a dialogue with the people, now he also refuses to speak with us. 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. The collapse of the narrative doesnt happen in a single big step, but through an accumulation of small, personal, often innocuous refusals. [2], Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual "wooden language." PROSECUTOR: And who wrote the papers for you, Elena? The day began as it ended with vehement anti-Ceauescu demonstrations. All the world should know what is going on here. The new committee declared its immediate aim was an end to the cult of personality which had developed around the Ceauescu family. Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obamas Impeachment Romanian demonstrators gathered in front of the headquarters of the Romanian Communist Party in Bucharest during the 1989 anti-communist revolution, 22 December 1989. Later reports suggested the couple had been captured. 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. The following is a transscript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. And you might perhaps have achieved the understanding of the Romanian people if you had now admitted your guilt. And the next moment he was lying in the dust. The slippage that attracts the most attention of course, is discontent within the United States military. They were only busy enslaving the people and building up an apparatus of power. What happened was that he was misled by Centralized Information. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court.
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