Published on 27 February 2023
FOURTH SECTION
Applications nos. 57931/21 and 39139/22
Oana-Mihaela ȘTEFAN and Others and Nicolae MITRAN
against Romania
lodged on 20 November 2021 and 3 August 2022 respectively
communicated on 8 February 2023
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASES
The applications concern the alleged lack of an effective investigation into the violent crackdown of the peaceful demonstration of June 1990, in Bucharest, which resulted in the death of the first five applicants’ close relatives – namely of Mr. Gheorghe Duncă and of Mr. Mitriţă Lepădatu – and in the sixth applicant’s injury (all concerning application no. 57931/21), as well as in the seventh applicant’s ill treatment (application no. 39139/22; see Appendix for details).
The investigation was opened in 1990 and it is still ongoing before the domestic authorities. After the delivery of the Court’s judgment in the case of Mocanu and Others v. Romania ([GC], nos. 10865/09 and 2 others, ECHR 2014 (extracts)), on 12 June 2017, some 27 years after the events in question, 14 individuals, including the former Heads of State and Government at the date of the events, were sent to trial for crimes against humanity (an event that led to a resolution, by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, closing the execution of the above-mentioned Grand Chamber judgment). Subsequently, the decision to send to trial the 14 individuals was quashed by a judgment of 8 May 2019, which became final on 10 December 2020, and the judge of the Preliminary Chamber of the High Court of Cassation and Justice ordered that the investigation be resumed at the level of the prosecutor office, while excluding from the file, for procedural reasons, all the evidence gathered so far.
The applicants maintain that they have not been informed by the competent authorities about the current state of the criminal investigations. They complain under Articles 2 and 3 (procedural limb) of the Convention.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life and to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment (see Mocanu and Others v. Romania [GC], nos. 10865/09 and 2 others, ECHR 2014 (extracts)), was the investigation in the present cases compatible with the procedural requirements of Articles 2 and/or 3 of the Convention?
The Government is invited to submit factual information and relevant documents on the current state of the criminal investigations.
APPENDIX
List of applicants
Application
Date of introduction
No.
Applicant’s Name
Year of birth
Nationality
Application no. 57931/21
lodged on 20 November 2021
1.
Oana-Mihaela ȘTEFAN
(daughter of Mr. Ghorghe Duncă)
1975
Romanian
2.
Cristina-Gabriela BURSUCEANU
(daughter of Mr. Ghorghe Duncă)
1969
Romanian
3.
Gabriela-Rodica LEPĂDATU
(wife of Mr. Mitriţă Lepădatu)
1968
Romanian
4.
Marius LEPĂDATU-GREMPELS
(son of Mr. Mitriţă Lepădatu)
1987
Romanian
5.
Constantin-Alin RISTOIU (son of Mr. Mitriţă Lepădatu)
1988
Romanian
6.
Mariana-Florica BECHIR
1967
Romanian
Application no. 39139/22
lodged on 3 August 2022
7.
Nicolae MITRAN
1969
Romanian