The Lord of the Rings, That Is Of The Securitate Files

I already questioned in a previous article the timing for the Supreme Council for Defense decision on July 24 to open the Securitate files to the public.

That was a meeting dedicated to assessing the disappearance from Romania of the suspected terrorist Omar Hayssam and resulted in three directors of the intelligence services stepping down.

That latter resulted in the deputy directors of these services taking over the day-to-day operations.

For the case of the counter intelligence service, or SRI, that deputy is Florian Coldea, 35, recruited by Virgil Magureanu, former SRI head. Coldea graduated the National Academy for Intelligence in 1996, specializing in antiterrorism. His wife is also a SRI officer.

I understood since writing my previous article that I should rephrase my initial question: the real issue was what was the link between the resignation of the three directors and the massive operation underway to open the Securitate files to the public?

The answer might be that Radu Timofte, the SRI director appointed to the office by the previous social-democrat government, could have complied less enthusiastically with president Traian Basescu’s orders, particularly with regard to making public the files of the latter’s political opponents.

Coldea was Basescu’s choice for Timofte’s replacement for a long while.

He was groomed to the position starting July 27, 2005, when he became deputy director of the SRI; on March 24, 2006, Basescu made him a colonel. On April 3, 2006, Basescu made public that Coldea would come at the SRI helm in a matter of months.

Ovidiu Ohanesian, one of the three Romanian journalists kidnapped last year in Iraq, said Coldea was the one accompanying them in the plane flying them back to Romania, and the one acting as master of ceremonies during the three days of debriefing they have been subjected to.

Coldea’s loyalty to Basescu’s cause was proven during the staging of the kidnapping and the subsequent successful operation of the journalists’ release.

So did prosecutor Ciprian Nastasiu prove his loyalty, first with building the file against the alleged kidnapping mastermind Omar Hayssam, and then working towards his release from prison on health grounds.

One cannot dismiss upfront the possibility that Coldea oversaw the escape of Hayssam from Romania, on orders from Basescu, thus bringing closer the moment in time for Timofte to step down.

The great antiterrorist expert Coldea supposedly was did not take the operative decisions to monitor Hayssam after the latter’s release from prison.

However, neither the president, nor the parliamentary committees investigating Hayssam’s disappearance brought themselves to the point of keeping Coldea accountable for his lack of action.

So, Coldea, this trusted Basescu man, is now in charge of opening up the files of the former Securitate to the public by August 30.

That is the day the Parliament will also start debating on who will replace the former intelligence services directors.

So, now, really, who is the Lord of Rings, or rather of the Securitate files?

Translated by Anca Paduraru