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. Ceauescu's speech of 21 August 1968 was a public address by Nicolae Ceauescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and President of the State Council of Romania, strongly condemning the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. CEAUSESCU: I will not answer. PROSECUTOR: You claim to have taken measures so that every peasant is entitled to 200 kilograms of wheat. 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. That is why the people are fighting all over the country. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. CEAUSESCU: No one recognizes that. As the other primary sources reveal, the Ceausescus were tried a few days later and executed as enemies of the new Romanian state. They used to fetch people from orphans' homes or from abroad whom they trained in special institutions to become murderers of their own people. And I also do not recognize the counsel for the defense. After an outage of transmission of Romanian television, the speaker announces the verdict in the trial of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu is death sentence. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. 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. Forget what the politicians on Capitol Hill are saying about the prisoner swap. Paper is patient. "Stenographic transcript of meeting of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party," August 17, 1968, History . Ceausescu's last speech was interrupted but not by the shouts of the masses. Here Nicolae Ceauescu steps in and defends her. CEAUSESCU: She was not a deputy prime minister, but the first deputy prime minister. Storm Over The South China Sea By the way, I will not answer any more questions. 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. PROSECUTOR: Note: He does not recognize the points mentioned in the bill of indictment. I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. Making use of Marxist-Leninist rhetoric, he delivered a litany of the achievements of the "socialist revolution" and Romanian "multi-laterally developed . From the archive, 23 December 1989: Celebration as a nation emerges from the dark, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. PROSECUTOR: We now have another leading organ. I will only speak at the Grand National Assembly. PROSECUTOR: This situation is known. I will not answer any more. They organized the putsch. I will not speak with you provocateurs anymore, and I will not speak with the organizers of the putsch and with the mercenaries. The president of the United States is the commander in chief over all branches of the military. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. I told you right at the beginning that I will not answer a single question. PROSECUTOR: Will you sign the statement now or not? No one can dissolve the National Assembly. Ceausescu answers: As I said before, the people are fighting for their freedom and against this putsch, against this usurpation. Have you understood them? The new committee declared its immediate aim was an end to the cult of personality which had developed around the Ceauescu family. Forget the pontifications from the myriad talking heads on TV and radio. This gang will be destroyed. 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. The prosecutor quotes Ceausescu, Ceausescu's program. Thousands of workers were bused into the square under threat of being fired. I will not answer you putschists, Ceauescu says. He was a cosignatory of an open letter harshly critical of the Ceauescu region which appeared last march. PROSECUTOR: Who ordered shooting into the crowd? Fiction. The palaces belong to the people. The story of Ceauescu's final speech is a textbook example. It can go on for a long time shedding parts, but eventually the axle falls out. You are guilty of these offenses even if you do not want to admit it. There is still shooting going on, the prosecutor says. 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. Why do the peasants then buy their bread in Bucharest? Ceauescu's speech of 21 August 1968 [English Subtitles] Transcrierea discursului lui Ceauescu: 01:08 Nicolae Ceauescu: Dragi tovari. 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. This is a legal trial, and I honor them by defending them. It must be cleared up whether Ceauescu wants to, should, must or can answer at all. The next he was a hunted man. He also refuses to recognize the new forum. We want a legal trial. Another question to Ceauescu: Who ordered the bloodbath in Timisoara. This year, the crowd begins to chant unscripted comments back at the dictator. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. Description One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescu's December 21st speech (or lack thereof). An important historical square located on Victoriei Street. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. At some point the entire structure of governance becomes a system of workarounds with all real power devolved to the man on the ground. CEAUSESCU: We will discuss this before the Grand National Assembly. It is as if, in that moment, everyday Romanian's saw the possibility, saw the reality of the weakness of Ceausescus regime. 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. Not a single shot was fired in Palace Square. I told you right at the beginning that I will not answer a single question. As a result, the prosecutor says: Elena has always been talkative, but otherwise she does not know much. It is a lie that I made the people starve. PROSECUTOR: Well, Mr. He was Secre. Nicolae Ceausescu - Last Speech, Trial and Execution - History Channel (ENG subtitled) ac agencija 258 subscribers Subscribe 743 Save 111K views 3 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based. Immediately before them were plainclothes Securitate agents and a row of police militia, who kept the mass of the crowd about thirty meters back from the front of the Central Committee building. I will not answer anymore. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to ensure both success and the appearance of popular support. One moment Ceauescu was in total control of Romania, determined to crush his enemies. Later reports suggested the couple had been captured. The administrations threats, so dire on paper, are toothless in practice because they actually cant afford to carry out the threat. And today you are acting in the same megalomaniac way. And who brought them into the country? CEAUSESCU: As a citizen, as a simple citizen, I tell you the following: At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. I ask the court, as the plaintiff, to take note that proof has been furnished for all these points, that the two have committed the offenses mentioned. The crowd, now totaling up to 80,000, were given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. He always claimed to act and speak on behalf of the people, to be a beloved son of the people, but he only tyrannized the people all the time. Bucharests Broadcasting House was the main source of information yesterday for Romanians about the countrys liberation and the means by which politicians, military officers and dissidents tried to influence the situation. Everybody should be paid according to his performance. This is our home. TheWashington Timesreports that a top intelligence official is accusing the Obama admininistration of funding a terror network for the next ten years, alleging the administration paid a cash ransom to redeem Bowe Bergdahl. However, why are your programs not implemented? Military base Tirgoviste - December 25th 1989. The streets and squares of Bucharest were littered with torn portraits and shattered busts of the President and his wife. Thousands of workers were bussed into the square under threat of being fired. It is simply an accumulation of multitudes ignoring the official line bit by bit and thereby gradually placing themselves unwittingly in opposition to it. The court notes that the investigations have been concluded. You cannot talk to me in such a way! A flight into peril, flashbacks to underground action. ELENA CEAUESCU: The terrorists are from Securitate. Only the front rows supported Ceauescu with cheers and applause, with most of the crowd remaining impassive. Some people will continue to believe the narrative, but even among the acolytes, the fatal smoke of doubt has entered the temple. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. 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. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: As a citizen, as a simple citizen, I tell you the following: At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. We have sufficient data on this period. Furnish proof! You have destroyed the Romanian villages and the Romanian soil. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway About PROSECUTOR: Esteemed Mr. Chairman, I have been one of those who, as a lawyer, would have liked to oppose the death sentence, because it is inhuman. They are cowards. PROSECUTOR: Will you sign the statement now or not? Elena answers: The intellectuals of this country should hear you, you and your colleagues. 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. . 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. 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. The charges are incorrect, and I will not answer a single question here. Furnish proof! The palaces belong to the people. CEAUSESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. CEAUSESCU: No, we had no palaces. PROSECUTOR: Did you hear the charges? He did not realize, however, that a real revolution was starting right before his eyes. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. KGB technicians and agents made one of the most brilliant moves and played a recording of whistles and protests through installed speakers in the square. Are they the people, or are you paying them? 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