Remains Of Romanian Dictator Ceausescu And His Wife To Be Exhumed

The remains of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena will be exhumed Wednesday morning so that DNA samples may be taken, at the request of their son Valentin, who wants to determine whether they are indeed of his late parents.

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Family members have requested the disinterment be private. It is attended by Mircea Oprean, the widower of the Ceausescus' daughter Zoia.

The biological samples taken from the remains will be sent to a laboratory for DNA testing, which will determine whether they belong to the Ceausescu couple. Once the samples are acquired, the remains will be reinterred.

Valentin Ceausescu and Mircea Oprean have recently taken possession of two graves in Ghencea Cemetery, Bucharest, after several years of court battles. In June 2008, the Bucharest Court of Appeals ordered the Defense Ministry to present proof either confirming or disproving that the dictator and his wife are buried in the two plots. In November the same year, the Ministry said it had requested signed statements from people who took part in the Ceausescus' interment.

Throughout the trial, Defense Ministry and Cemetery Administration officials maintained they had no document certifying that the Ceausescus are buried at Ghencea.

Nicolae Ceausescu, the last Communist leader of Romania, was overthrown in a violent revolution and executed together with his wife Elena on December 25, 1989.

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