The mayor of Slatina asks the Police not to discard evidence in the investigation concerning the mass graves in the Strehareț cemetery

Slatina Mayor Mario De Mezzo claims that a metal coffin lid found in one of the mass graves at Strehareț Cemetery indicates that the remains were buried recently. A note bearing the name of a person who died in 2022 was attached to the lid; the mayor says the person had allegedly been repatriated from Germany.

De Mezzo accuses the police and prosecutors of failing to preserve the lid as evidence and says he was allegedly told to throw it away. The mayor says he will not give up the item, considering it potentially relevant to determining when and under what circumstances the remains were moved.

The case is under investigation after workers discovered remains in the cemetery on September 16, 2026, which prosecutors say belonged to approximately 23 people and had been stored in raffia sacks. Police also identified a coffin, and the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Slatina District Court opened a criminal case for desecration of corpses or graves.

Investigators are verifying the origin of the remains and whether procedures concerning possible exhumations were followed. Four people have been questioned. Prosecutors said that reports of undecomposed bodies, remains dating from the pandemic period, or burial dates written on the sacks do not correspond to reality.