BUCHAREST, Romania, March 29 (UPI) -- Romania's National Council for Research on the communist Secret Service Archive is opening more than 1.3 million former Securitate secret police records.
In October 1999 Romania's Chamber of Deputies and Senate approved the Ticu Dumitrescu Law, which gave every Romanian citizen persecuted by the Securitate the right to see his own file.
Romania's parliament is now considering additional legislation to expand citizens' access to the Securitate records.
Ziua news agency reported on March 27 that parliament is debating ordinance 16/2006, which would give any citizen the right to request the National Council for Research on the Communist Secret Service Archive to check the pertinent records of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Romanian Secret Service, Special Telecommunication Service and the Defense Ministry General Information Department.
Citizens can also request the council check the records of magistrates, lawyers, Interior Ministry officers, diplomats and diplomatic staff and Defense Ministry officials for links with the Securitate.
The legislation has already led to the prosecution of a number of former Securitate operatives.
