Romania's High Court on Wednesday began hearing an appeal by the former head of a Romanian communist prison against his 20-year jail sentence on charges of crimes against humanity.
But the trial was adjourned until November 25 to allow Alexandru Visinescu time to find a lawyer, the two judges said.
Now 90, Visinescu headed the Ramnicu Sarat prison for political detainees in eastern Romania between 1956 and 1963.
At least 14 prisoners died during his tenure.
All prisoners were held in solitary confinement, denied the right to speak to anyone and suffered hunger and beatings.
Visinescu voiced no regrets or apologies for his actions, arguing that he was only obeying orders from his superiors and had upheld the law.
In late July, a Bucharest court handed him a 20-year sentence for "crimes against humanity" on grounds he ran an "extermination regime" at the prison.
A week later, he filed an appeal against the sentence along with the relatives of two former detainees, Ioan Barbus and Victor Anca.
"We have not asked for an increase in his sentence because it has no importance, given Alexandru Visinescu's age, but we have asked for a clearer legal characterisation of the facts," Mihaela Barbus told AFP.
"We are not expecting major changes in his sentence."
Over 600,000 people were jailed in Romania for political reasons between 1945 and 1989, according to the Sighet Memorial for the victims of communism.
The most severe crackdowns took place in the 1950s.
Romania’s High Court on Wednesday began hearing an appeal by the former head of a Romanian communist prison against his 20-year jail sentence on charges of crimes against humanity.
But the trial was adjourned until November 25 to allow Alexandru Visinescu time to find a lawyer, the two judges said.
Now 90, Visinescu headed the Ramnicu Sarat prison for political detainees in eastern Romania between 1956 and 1963.
At least 14 prisoners died during his tenure.
All prisoners were held in solitary confinement, denied the right to speak to anyone and suffered hunger and beatings.
Visinescu voiced no regrets or apologies for his actions, arguing that he was only obeying orders from his superiors and had upheld the law.
In late July, a Bucharest court handed him a 20-year sentence for “crimes against humanity” on grounds he ran an “extermination regime” at the prison.
A week later, he filed an appeal against the sentence along with the relatives of two former detainees, Ioan Barbus and Victor Anca.
“We have not asked for an increase in his sentence because it has no importance, given Alexandru Visinescu’s age, but we have asked for a clearer legal characterisation of the facts,” Mihaela Barbus told AFP.
“We are not expecting major changes in his sentence.”
Over 600,000 people were jailed in Romania for political reasons between 1945 and 1989, according to the Sighet Memorial for the victims of communism.
The most severe crackdowns took place in the 1950s.
