C. Ticu Dumitrescu | Romanian dissident, 80
Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu, 80, who was once jailed as a Romanian communist-era "enemy of the state" and spent years fighting to reveal details of the country's troubled past, died Friday at his home in Bucharest.
Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu, 80, who was once jailed as a Romanian communist-era "enemy of the state" and spent years fighting to reveal details of the country's troubled past, died Friday at his home in Bucharest.
After communism ended in 1989 with the overthrow and execution of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Mr. Dumitrescu was elected to parliament, where he fought for the exclusion of former communists from public life. He helped draft laws that led to the publication of the millions of feared Securitate secret police files.
Mr. Dumitrescu was sentenced to 27 years prison in 1949 for being an enemy of the state. From 1949 to 1964, he was incarcerated in communist jails or kept under house arrest.
After he was released, he was not allowed to practice his profession as a lawyer and was forced to work in construction, a typical career path for former dissidents.
He retired from the Senate in 2000, and in May published his memoirs, Witness and Document, detailing his time in a communist gulag.
- AP