Magistratul militar General Alexandru Petrescu: Cursus honorum.
Military Magistrate General Alexandru Petrescu: Cursus Honorum

Author(s): Iuliu Crăcană
Subject(s): History of Law
Published by: Universul Juridic
Keywords: Alexandru Petrescu; magistrate; justice; political trial; corruption
Summary/Abstract: Alexandru Petrescu was the president of the law courts that imposed the heaviest sentences for political offences in the 1950s. Petrescu’s inclination towards corruption and compromise, his versatility and the ability to get in contact with people at the highest political level, made him a reliable man during all the political regimes. Thus, he was selected for the highest offices. Until 1942 Petrescu imposed heavy political sentences on legionnaires and communists. Between 1942 and 1944 he was appointed Director General of the Directorate for Prisons by Ion Antonescu. Although he was accused of war crimes, after 1944 he became pawn in the communists’ attempt to annihilate the Romanian elite through judicial procedures.Finally, the general was appointed President of the Military Court of M.A.I. departments, the highest court of appeal for political trials. Petrescu’s political obedience did not prevent him from delivering favorable verdicts to some defendants in exchange for favors. For that reason he was called the “black market of justice”.

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