The former administrator of the cemetery in Slatina is accused of moving bodies into mass graves in order to free up burial plots

The former administrator of Slatina’s Strehareți Cemetery is accused of allegedly exhuming bodies from certain burial plots and reinterring them in mass graves, in raffia sacks, in order to free up crypts and make financial gains. Suspicions arose after cemetery employees discovered human remains hidden beneath structures that imitated crypts.

Images published by Slatina Mayor Mario de Mezzo show pits containing sacks with human remains. According to some employees, the bodies were allegedly removed from other graves and reburied during funeral processions, after the families had left.

The mayor claims that the municipality had been in conflict for two years with the company that administered the cemetery and that it regained control of the cemetery at the beginning of the month. The cemetery had been concessioned in August 2010 to Ecumenic Funerar, while local residents repeatedly complained about prices and the lack of burial plots.

The company challenged the municipality’s decision, and the Dolj Tribunal is expected to rule on Friday. The allegations concerning the exhumations and clandestine burials are to be investigated by the authorities.