CNN - December 6, 1999

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- In a move away from its communist past, Romania's president enacted a law Monday giving citizens access to files the former secret police kept on public figures.

Under communism, one in four of Romania's adult population was believed to have collaborated with the dreaded Securitate, the secret police force disbanded during the 1989 anticommunist revolt. Because of the huge number of informers, many of whom are rumored to have become active in public life after 1989, parliament has been reluctant to allow the estimated 125 million files to be opened.

Over the past 10 years, several politicians, journalists and key functionaries have been blackmailed over their alleged Securitate links. Some have lost their jobs and others have had their reputations tarnished by allegations they collaborated with the secret police.

"Starting from today, the blackmail of dignitaries and public functionaries on the basis of alleged collaboration with the Securitate will no longer be possible," President Emil Constantinescu said in a statement about the new law.

The Securitate turned Romania into a virtual police state from 1947 to 1989. Although it no longer exists, Romania is still a society racked by suspicion and fear of spies. The country retains nine secret services.

"After 45 years of living in lies and terror, and after 10 years in which unproved accusations have increased suspicion and mistrust among us, we can finally break from the oppression of the past," Constantinescu said.

For the past two years, Romanians have had access to their own files, but not those of other people. Citizens are still not allowed access to each other's files. But under the new law, anyone can submit a request to an 11-member commission asking to see the files on public figures.

The commission will be controlled by lawmakers, and applicants will have to swear they did not work for Securitate. It was not immediately clear how commission members would be selected.

The law retains legal protections for former Securitate agents who are still active in intelligence work. Hardly anyone has admitted working for the Securitate. But Costin Georgescu, the head of the Romanian Information Service, the successor to the Securitate, said one-fifth of present-day spies are old Securitate employees.