FILE Ex-prison commander sentenced to 20 years скачать в хорошем качестве

FILE Ex-prison commander sentenced to 20 years

(24 Jul 2015) A court on Friday set a 20-year sentence for a communist-era prison commander convicted of crimes against humanity in the deaths of 12 inmates, in the first such trial in Romania. The Appeals Court sentenced the 89-year-old Alexandru Visinescu to 20 years for deaths which happened under his command. Visinescu, who was not in court to hear the ruling, has said he was merely following orders and has shown no remorse. The court ordered him to contribute, along with government agencies, to paying 300,000 euros (330,000 US dollars) to relatives of victims. Visinescu's lawyer, Valentina Bornea, told The Associated Press her client was unhappy with the sentence but had not decided whether to appeal. From 1956 to 1963, Visinescu ran Ramnicu Sarat, a prison in eastern Romania where intellectuals and political and military officials were tortured and sometimes killed. Prosecutors said detainees were kept in unheated cells, kept in solitary confinement, severely underfed, denied medical treatment and beaten in "a regime of extermination." About 138 inmates were incarcerated under Visinescu's command. About 500,000 Romanians were held as political prisoners in the 1950s and early '60s. Visinescu is the first prison commander from that time to stand trial. Ion Ficior, who ran the Periprava labor camp, is awaiting trial for crimes against humanity for the deaths of 103 people there. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...