Nine Bucharest police officers sentenced for illegal detention and torture

Pandemic Enforcement Escalates into Violence at Eroii Revoluției

The case stems from an incident on August 31, 2020, shortly after midnight, near the Eroii Revoluției subway station in Bucharest. According to the Bucharest Tribunal Prosecutor’s Office indictment, Șeicaru and his subordinates were patrolling to enforce COVID-19 pandemic restrictions when they stopped a civilian for not wearing a mask. Two passersby, 39-year-old Ionuț Ghiorghe and 51-year-old Teodor Gheorghe, intervened and pointed out that the officers themselves were not wearing masks. Șeicaru responded with verbal abuse before multiple officers rushed the two men, immobilizing and handcuffing them. Investigators detailed that Ionuț Ghiorghe was forced into a police cruiser where Șeicaru punched him while a subordinate held him down. Officers sprayed him with tear gas and drove him to a vacant lot at the edge of the capital alongside five subordinates, including two female officers. On the dark field, Șeicaru, Răzvan Lupu, and Dorin Nine pulled Ghiorghe from the vehicle, forced him to the ground, and beat him with police batons and boots. Forensic examiners later documented 34 distinct impact marks on his body, including injuries to the soles of his feet after his shoes were removed.

Abuse Documented in the Prosecutor’s Indictment

According to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Bucharest Tribunal indictment cited in the case files, after the physical assault concluded, Șeicaru urinated on Ghiorghe’s left arm and t-shirt, stating, See what the Romanian Police can do? The officers then threw away the victim’s mobile phone, dumped a package of tobacco over his face, uncuffed him, and drove away, leaving him alone on the empty field. Ghiorghe eventually located his phone, transmitted his coordinates to a friend, and made his way back into the city. The second victim, Teodor Gheorghe, suffered a parallel assault after being handcuffed and placed in a separate police vehicle, where officers sprayed tear gas in his face. Officer Irina Gogoașe then transported him to the Ferentari neighborhood and abandoned him. Court documents show that both victims died months later in 2021. Teodor Gheorghe passed away on March 16 from lung cancer, while Ionuț Ghiorghe was found dead in an acquaintance’s home on March 26, with a forensic autopsy ruling the cause of death as a drug overdose.

Appellate Court Reduces Sentences and Cites Statute of Limitations

The criminal case moved slowly through the judicial system after prosecutors filed charges in July 2021. The initial trial at the Bucharest Tribunal lasted two years and three months before advancing to the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The appellate court reduced several sentences, applied the statute of limitations to certain charges such as abusive conduct, and delivered the final verdict on September 29. The final sentences handed down by the Bucharest Court of Appeal include:

• Viorel Șeicaru: 5 years and 8 months in prison for illegal deprivation of liberty, torture, and incitement to illegal deprivation of liberty. The charge of abusive conduct was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. He originally faced 9 years and 4 months in the initial trial.
• Viorel Răzvan Lupu: 2 years and 6 months in prison for illegal deprivation of liberty and torture, down from an initial 4-year sentence.
• Dorin Nine: 3 years and 10 months in prison for illegal deprivation of liberty and torture, reduced from 6 years and 6 months.
• Mihai Patrik Alexandru Radu: 2 years, 5 months, and 10 days with a suspended sentence for illegal deprivation of liberty and complicity in torture.