Costel Covalciuc, a 35-year-old labourer from Dorohoi, died in custody on 4 July 1993 in suspicious circumstances, possibly as a result of torture. He had been arrested by police on 29 June for allegedly threatening his wife and mother-in-law and on 30 June he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. Family members who saw his body at the morgue claimed that it was covered with bruises and blood, and a woman who was in custody at the same time reported that she had heard a man begging for his life. According to the report made by the Dorohoi police he had complained of abdominal pains during the night, and when taken to hospital in the morning had died on arrival. After an autopsy, the coroner stated that he had died of a heart attack.
