Prosecutors requested prison sentences on Wednesday at the Bucharest Military Tribunal for former heads of the Gendarmerie accused of coordinating the use of force against protesters in Victory Square during the August 10, 2018 rally.
The final debates in the case started on Wednesday and continue on Thursday, with even National Institute of Magistracy trainees present in the courtroom to listen to the final pleadings in one of the most important trials related to the authorities’ intervention in the 2018 anti-government protests.
Prosecutors request execution for Cucoș and Sindile
The Prosecutor's representative requested prison sentences for the three former Gendarmerie commanders on trial, with an additional penalty for aggravating circumstances.
For Colonel (ret.) Gheorghe Sebastian Cucoș, former head of the Romanian Gendarmerie, and for Colonel Cătălin Sindile, former deputy inspector general of the Gendarmerie, the prosecutor requested prison sentences.
In the case of Colonel Laurențiu Cazan, former deputy director general of the Gendarmerie of the Capital and current officer within the institution, prosecutors requested a suspended sentence and community service.
Why was a milder sentence requested for Laurențiu Cazan
According to the session prosecutor, the request for a milder sentence in the case of Laurențiu Cazan is related to both his attitude during the trial and the fact that the statute of limitations has expired for one of the offenses.
Cazan was the only one of the three former Gendarmerie heads who made statements in court.
In the case of seven other gendarmes prosecuted for abusive conduct, prosecutors stated that the offenses have since expired.
Prosecution also requests moral damages for protesters
Even though some of the offenses have expired, prosecutors argue that the involved gendarmes must pay moral damages to the protesters who suffered as a result of the law enforcement intervention.
312 civil parties have been formed in the case, complaining of being affected by the Gendarmerie intervention during the protest in Victory Square.
The former Gendarmerie heads were indicted in August 2023 by the Military Section of the General Prosecutor's Office.
Accusations in the August 10 case
According to investigators, Colonel Laurențiu Cazan, as the action commander, along with Gheorghe Sebastian Cucoș and Cătălin Sindile, who were coordinating the intervention, allegedly ordered the illegal use of force to disperse the approximately 30,000 protesters in Victory Square.
Prosecutors claim that the intervention was "illegal and unjustified" and that the use of batons, tear gas, acoustic and irritant grenades, or other equipment from the Gendarmerie's arsenal could be classified as "inhuman" and "degrading" treatment.
In the same case, another 13 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Capital Gendarmerie were prosecuted for abusive conduct or complicity in this offense.