Mineriada Case: Iliescu, Roman & Others Sent to Trial

Mineriada Case: Prosecutors Present the Timeline of Events

According to investigators, in June 1990, Romania’s highest-ranking state officials at the time—Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman, and Gelu Voican Voiculescu, assisted by other individuals close to or supportive of the ruling power, including Virgil Măgureanu, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, and Adrian Sârbu, the prime minister’s advisor—implemented a policy of repression against the civilian population of the capital. This resulted in four deaths, two rapes, over 1,300 people suffering physical and/or psychological injuries, and the unlawful detention of more than 1,200 individuals.

Starting on April 22, 1990, a protest took place in Bucharest’s University Square, lasting several weeks until June 13, 1990. The demonstration opposed the newly established government following the 1989 Revolution, with protesters demanding a clean break from the recently replaced communist regime. They called for the promotion of non-communist figures in leadership, the establishment of a free television station, and other democratic reforms, prosecutors stated.

“In this context, Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, Virgil Măgureanu, and other state and National Salvation Front leaders launched an attack against protesters physically present in University Square. This attack, in reality, served as a pretext to repress those who had previously participated in the demonstrations—especially opinion leaders—as well as anyone expressing any form of opposition. The repression also targeted individuals perceived as potential dissenters, particularly students, intellectuals, and those aligned with Western values.

A key element in facilitating this attack was manipulative and insidious public messaging, portraying the demonstrators as a threat to democratic values, which the new government claimed to be upholding,” according to the Public Ministry’s statement.

Due to the scale of the attack, its execution required the involvement of a large number of individuals, some of whom were aware of the operation’s true nature, while many others were unwittingly manipulated by the orchestrators, investigators concluded.

Timeline of Events

According to investigators, in June 1990, Romania’s highest-ranking state officials at the time—Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman, and Gelu Voican Voiculescu, aided by other individuals close to or supportive of the ruling power, including Virgil Măgureanu, director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, and Adrian Sârbu, the prime minister’s advisor—implemented a policy of repression against the civilian population in the capital. As a result, four people were killed, two were raped, over 1,300 suffered physical and/or psychological injuries, and more than 1,200 individuals were unlawfully detained and persecuted.

Beginning on April 22, 1990, a protest took place in Bucharest’s University Square, lasting for several weeks until June 13, 1990. The demonstration opposed the newly established government following the 1989 Revolution, with protesters demanding a clean break from the communist regime, the promotion of non-communist leaders, the creation of an independent television station, and other democratic reforms, prosecutors stated.

“In this context, Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, Virgil Măgureanu, and other state and National Salvation Front leaders launched an attack against protesters physically present in University Square. This attack was, in fact, a pretext to justify repression against individuals who had previously participated in the protests—especially opinion leaders—as well as anyone expressing any form of opposition. The repression also targeted individuals perceived as potential dissenters, particularly students, intellectuals, and those aligned with Western values.

A key element in facilitating this attack was manipulative and insidious public messaging, portraying the demonstrators as a threat to democratic values, which the new government claimed to be upholding,” according to the Public Ministry’s statement.

Given the scale of the attack, its execution required the involvement of a large number of individuals, some of whom were aware of the operation’s true purpose, while many others were unwittingly manipulated by the orchestrators, investigators concluded.

A “Systemic Criminal Group”

“To carry out this attack, state leaders—including Ion Iliescu, Petre Roman, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, and Virgil Măgureanu—along with Adrian Sârbu, the prime minister’s advisor, formed a systemic criminal group, comprising political, administrative, military, and civilian elements. A large number of individuals participated in this operation, each contributing in different ways to crimes committed on a massive scale.

Those who physically carried out the criminal acts held a lower rank within the group’s hierarchy, but the conception and orchestration of these crimes were the direct responsibility of Romania’s political leadership at the time,” prosecutors stated.

Evidence suggests that Iliescu, Roman, Voiculescu, and Măgureanu played key roles in planning and orchestrating the attack, though its execution involved many individuals unaware of the broader plan, the investigation found.

“On June 13, 1990, the accused carried out a repressive crackdown on demonstrators in University Square, Bucharest. Illegal forces from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Romanian Intelligence Service, along with over 10,000 miners and other workers from various regions of the country, participated in this attack,” the High Court Prosecutor’s Office stated.