Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu and former Prime Minister Petre Roman are indicted in the Miner Riot case of June 13-15, 1990, according to a statement from the General Prosecutor’s Office. The two are accused of crimes against humanity. On Wednesday, January 15, prosecutors brought former Prime Minister Petre Roman to court and went to Ion Iliescu’s home.
In the case of former President Ion Iliescu, a special procedure was applied, because he cannot travel to the headquarters of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Gelu Voican Voiculescu was also summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office, but he requested to reschedule the hearing.
Former Prime Minister Petre Roman appeared at the Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday morning to be questioned in the June 1990 Mineriadei case, in which he is accused of committing crimes against humanity. He denied any involvement and kept claiming that the accusations are unfair. According to the former high-ranking official, his own government was one of the victims of the mining raid. “There is no evidence, no evidence that I was involved in bringing the miners and what happened happened, as you know very well and I declared on June 16. I held a press conference and said. What happened there was with the obvious involvement of the former security people. I said it then, on June 16. This thing cost me,” he argued.
Former President Ion Iliescu, officially indicted in the Miner Riot case, refused to give statements to prosecutors, and his lawyer, Adrian Georgescu, stated that he did so at his recommendation. Prosecutors went to the former president’s home on Wednesday and informed him that he was indicted, but he refused to make statements.
The prosecutor who went to Ion Iliescu’s home stated that she did not yet know whether he would be sent to trial and that he benefits from the presumption of innocence.
Asked about the previous statements of Petre Roman, who claims that he had no involvement in those events, Ion Iliescu’s lawyer replied: “I respect the way he is defending himself.”
His lawyer, Adrian Georgescu, stated that this is the defense strategy he has thought of. The prosecutors informed him that he is being charged in the case for crimes against humanity. Asked about Petre Roman’s previous statements, who claims that he had no involvement in those events, Ion Iliescu’s lawyer replied: “I respect Mr. Petre Roman’s way of communicating with you and the way he defends himself in the case.”
Initially, in June 2017, former President Ion Iliescu was indicted for crimes against humanity, along with former Prime Minister Petre Roman and former SRI Director Virgil Măgureanu, but in December 2020 the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to return the file to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, to restart the investigation from scratch. The judges then decided to annul all the evidence collected by the prosecutors, finding the indictment through which Ion Iliescu was indicted illegal, along with Petre Roman, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, Virgil Măgureanu, General (res.) Mugurel Cristian Florescu, Admiral (res.) Emil “Cico” Dumitrescu (deceased in the meantime), Cazimir Ionescu, Adrian Sârbu and Miron Cozma.
Investigators show that in June 1990, “people with decision-making positions in the Romanian state launched a policy of repression against the civilian population in the capital”. Four people were killed, two people were raped, over 1,3000 people had their lives put in danger, and another 1,200 people were illegally deprived of their liberty.
“Iliescu Ion, Roman Petre and other people from the state leadership or the National Salvation Front launched an attack against the demonstrators physically present in University Square, which in fact represented a pretext intended to mask the repressive action against people who had previously participated in these demonstrations”, according to the statement sent by the General Prosecutor’s Office.
The former leaders of the Romanian state, including Ion Iliescu and Petre Roman, formed “a systemic criminal group”, the prosecutors also show.
“In this attack, forces of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of National Defense, the Romanian Intelligence Service, as well as over ten thousand miners and other workers from several areas of the country were illegally involved,” according to the cited source.
Workers from the Bucharest Heavy Machinery Enterprise were also brought to University Square “who demonstrated violently, physically assaulting people in the area of the Institute of Architecture, after which they occupied” the area, the Prosecutor General’s Office statement also states.
Investigators also note that the actions of the state authorities generated “a violent retaliation from the opponents”, which led to the burning of the headquarters of the Capital Police, the Ministry of Interior, Romanian Television and the Romanian Intelligence Service.
In this context, the law enforcement agencies shot dead four people. On June 14 and 15, 1990, miners brought to Bucharest by Ion Iliescu “devastated the headquarters of political parties (…) the homes of the main opposition leaders, the headquarters of press publications and assaulted the inhabitants of the capital”, according to prosecutors.
Several people were forcibly taken to the military unit in Măgurele and to the Higher Officers School in Băneasa, being “illegally deprived of their liberty and in spaces totally unsuitable for holding people”.