-Caveat Lector- Top Communist spy who defected to West is acquitted BUCHAREST, Romania, Jun 07, 1999 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- Romania's top court on Monday acquitted former top Communist spy Ion Pacepa of treason and desertion 21 years after he defected to the United States. Pacepa had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to death under the rule of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. A retrial was ordered on the grounds of vague legal technicalities, but it was widely believed to be an attempt to win favor with the West and enhance Romania's chances for NATO membership. The new trial in the Supreme Court of Justice was brief, with the verdict coming within a few hours after the proceedings started. Judge Paul Todea, who read the verdict, said there was insufficient evidence to prove treason and desertion. ''His defection addressed those that had hope'' that communism would end, Pacepa's lawyer Lucian Belcea told the court. ''Where's the treason?'' Pacepa was deputy head of foreign intelligence and his defection was a severe blow to Romania's Securitate secret police. He was one of the highest ranking officials to defect from any Soviet Bloc country. After Pacepa defected, Ceausescu ordered his image erased from official photographs. The dictator became more paranoid after he was forced to recall dozens of double agents serving in Romania's embassies abroad, Pacepa contends in his book, ''Red Horizons.'' Pacepa's expose quickly deflated the image Ceausescu had built up as a maverick leader within the Soviet Bloc. Glamorous visits, such as one in which he was decorated by Queen Elizabeth II, came to a halt. Mystery and rumor surrounding Pacepa's case still flourish at home, including stories that he has undergone extensive plastic surgery to hide his identity. In recent weeks, former high-level officers in the Securitate secret police have said Pacepa worked as a double-agent for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency before his defection. They also say Pacepa, who now lives in a secret location in the United States, is eager to return to Romania to retrieve assets that were confiscated. Pacepa says he did not come into contact with the CIA until after he defected, and that his personal assets were not significant. Romania is one of the few former Soviet bloc countries that has not opened its secret police files, estimated to number 125 million. Practically nobody in public life has admitted to working for the service, although more than one-quarter of Romania's 23 million people were believed to have collaborated in some form. Last year, the former health minister and another top politician were forced to resign after revelations that they had worked for the Securitate, and an atmosphere of suspicion remains strong in society. Since his defection, he says, Pacepa has not made one telephone call to Romania for fear his number could be traced. He answered questions from The Associated Press via fax through a third party. He said, however, that he would like to return to Romania ''to kneel at my parents' graves as I did the day before I fled.'' Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved. -0- By ALISON MUTLER (am-jh) (PROFILE (WS SL:BC-Romania-Spy Trial, 1st Ld-Writethru; CT:i; (REG:EURO;) (REG:BRIT;) (REG:SCAN;) (REG:ENGL;) (LANG:ENGLISH;)) ) News provided by COMTEX. 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