Teo Peter, Buried in Cluj

Teo Peter’s final journey to his native town, Cluj-Napoca, ended in the small chapel of the Manastur cemetery, yesterday. The artist’s covered-with-flowers coffin got surrounded by hundreds of people who were silently waiting for the ceremony to begin.

FAREWELL! Close relatives, colleagues, lifetime friends and hundreds of rock music lovers accompanied Teo Peter for his last journey.

In the crowds one could easily see the notorious faces of the friends and colleagues of the fonder of the Compact band, as well as ordinary people. "I came to this funeral because I love music and because Teo Peter used to live in the same town as I did. I am an ordinary music lover", whispered Viorel Gabor.

Among the hundreds of people present there to spend some last few moments close to Teo Peter one could find Costi Camarasanu, with whom the artist funded the Compact band in 1977, Paul Ciuci, Aurel Vasilescu, Fane Nagy from Semnal M, as well as many other musical artists. On the right of the soulless body of Teo Peter were his son, Theo, together with his father’s brother and some other relatives.

KNELLS. At noon exactly, the knells started to ring, breaking the silence with their clear and cold sound. A synod of three priests, followed by a group of young students from the Theology University, entered the chapel singing, having as background the discrete sound of the hundreds of hands of the people crossing themselves. The imposing stature of Fane Nagy was guarding one of the entrances in the chapel and he was the one spreading the candles to the ones present. In a few minutes time tens of lights appeared in the crowds.

THE AMBASSADOR. Jack Dyer Crouch II was at the funerals

HUNGER STRIKE. At the other entrance, probably because he arrived a little later, there was the US ambassador in Bucharest, Jack Dyer Crouch II, who came to the ceremony together with the US Embassy Information Bureau chief, Michael Mates. The co-fonder of the Compact band, Costi Camarasanu, stated that, together with some other musicians, are willing to organise a hunger strike in front of the US Embassy in Bucharest, until justice will be done to Teo. Members of bands like Cargo, Celelate Cuvinte, Desperado, Krypton as well as Riff (a rock band in Sibiu) were also present at the funerals.

OFFICIALS. The Cluj prefect, Valentin Cuibus, together with sub-prefect Mihaela Rozor, with the two vice-mayors of the Cluj-Napoca town, Adi Popa and Ianos Boros, also came, together with two representatives of GRP (the Great Romania Party), who put a tricolour flower bouquet near the coffin.

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REACTIONS

External Affairs Minister, Mircea Geoana, stated yesterday in Galati that he firmly supports the people wanting justice to be made in the Teo Peter case. "I regret a lot Teo Peter’s disappearance. I, as well as the Ministry I lead, reacted firmly to the purloining of the American employee of the US Embassy in Bucharest, after he committed this serious traffic accident. As you well know, yesterday (n.r. - Monday) we took an official measure for the sentence and for the diplomatic immunity annulment of this marine officer who was on guard at the American Embassy in Bucharest", added Mircea Geoana. The Prime Minister Adrian Nastase also requested, in a letter sent to the American President, George W. Bush, for the White House to get involved in Robert Cristopher’s diplomatic immunity annulment. The PM asked Bush to get involved in the solving of the "situation caused by the tragic accident". In his turn, Romania’s ambassador in Washington, Sorin Ducaru, took the same measure as the Romanian part. ( By Erik Hoosz)

STATE DEPARTMENT

The death of the Romanian musician Teo Peter also captured the attention of the American State Department. During a press conference, the American journalists asked about the request of the Romanian External Affairs Ministry regarding the penal jurisdiction annulment for the marine officer who provoked the accident, informs Mediafax. The journalists asked for information about the way in which this problem will be solved, taking into account the fact that the authorities in Bucharest as well as the Romanian citizens are very unpleased about the fact that the American was taken out of the country. The State Department’s spokesperson deputy, Adam Ereli, said that between Romanian and the US there is an excellent relation and that the officials in Washington try to keep the friendly and collaboration status during the investigation. "The American Marine State Corps will make their own investigation. As far as the Embassy’s employee immunity is concerned, I have to say that he has penal immunity, according to the Vienna Convention" Ereli also said. The American diplomacy’s representative also said he cannot tell about the sending of Cristopher back to the US before the end of the investigation. The reason for which the American didn’t remain in Romania can be straightened out only by the American Defence Ministry. Although he was an employee of the embassy, the respective person is a marine officers detached for the security of the Embassy.

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