Mihai Chiţac was a Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n general

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 and Interior Minister from 1989 to 1990 during the waning days of the Communist era

Communist Romania

Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...

. In 2008, Chiţac and another general, Victor Stănculescu

Victor Stănculescu

Victor Atanasie Stănculescu was a Romanian general during the Communist era. He played a central role in the overthrow of the dictatorship by refusing to carry out the orders of Romanian dictator Ceauşescu during the Romanian Revolution of 1989...

, were convicted of aggravated manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

 by the Supreme Court for the shooting deaths of pro-democracy protesters during the Romanian Revolution of 1989

Romanian Revolution of 1989

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...

.

Communist Romanian security forces

Security Forces

Security Forces can refer to:*United States Air Force Security Forces*Iraqi security forces...

 fired live ammunition at protesters and civilians between December 17 and 20, 1989, killing 72 civilians and injuring 253 others. Generals Chiţac and Stănculescu were originally convicted and sentenced for multiple aggravated murder charges during a 1999 trial. The trial had found both guilty of ordering troops and security forces to shoot pro-democracy and anti-communist protesters in Timişoara

Timisoara

Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...

. Chiţac's prison terms were discontinued on six different occasions due to deteriorating health.

The Romanian Supreme Court further sentenced Chiţac and Stănculescu to fifteen years in prison for aggravated manslaughter on October 16, 2008.

Chiţac was admitted to Bucharest Military Hospital on September 19, 2010, for cardiac problems and tumors discovered that same month. He died at his home in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

at 10 a.m. on November 1, 2010, at the age of 82.