Romania · Bucharest
The investigation into the University Square crackdown
A June 1990 crackdown on demonstrations in Bucharest led to multiple investigations and a Grand Chamber judgment.
Timeline
- June 1990: The crackdown leads to investigations into a fatal shooting and alleged ill-treatment.
- 2009–2011: Prosecutors decline to prosecute the Stoica complaint and Romania’s highest court upholds the decision.
- 2014: The European court finds a failure to investigate effectively.
What the court documented
In Mocanu and Others v. Romania, the court examined a fatal shooting and an allegation of ill-treatment during the crackdown. Prosecutors decided in 2009 against bringing a prosecution over the alleged ill-treatment of Marin Stoica, and Romania’s highest court upheld that decision in 2011.
Case outcomes
The European court found that Romania had breached its duty to investigate. Its later Alexandrescu judgment examined a related set of complaints about the same crackdown. These decisions describe individual proceedings, with different outcomes and procedural histories. European Court of Human Rights · Mocanu