"To understand Iliescu, you must grasp the complexity of Romania's 1990s," says political analyst Teodor Tita. "He was neither a simple hero, nor a straightforward villain. He emb

Ion Iliescu, Romania’s first freely elected president after the fall of communism in 1989, who later faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody revolution, has died.

As a three-term president, he guided the country toward democracy, but he was called an authoritarian at heart and accused of brutality during the revolt that put him in power.