Gov't institute accuses ex-labor camp chief of crimes against humanity for 115 deaths, torture
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Romanian agency has accused the former commander of a labor camp of crimes against humanity for the deaths of 115 political prisoners.
The Institute for Investigating the Crimes of Communism on Tuesday handed a file to prosecutors detailing allegations against Florian Cormos, commander of the Cernavoda labor camp.
Institute chief Andrei Muraru says there is "clear proof" that Cormos "imposed a regime of extermination."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Under Cormos' command between December 1952 to April 1953, inmates allegedly were electrocuted and horses were ridden over them.
Cormos, 87, denies wrongdoing.
He is the third former commander of a communist prison or labor camp accused of causing deaths and torturing political prisoners.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Historians say more than 500,000 political prisoners were held in the 1950s and 1960s, and more than 100,000 died.