The court case into the miner riots of 1990
After almost 30 years, we are about to find out who is responsible for the violence perpetrated during the miner riots of June 1990 in Bucharest
Ştefan Stoica, 14.06.2017, 13:45
14 persons have been indicted in connection to the miner riots of 13-15 June 1990, six months after the fall of communism. Some high-profile names that dominated the Romanian political scene at the time are about to appear before the High Court of Cassation and Justice: the former leftist president Ion Iliescu, the former prime minister Petre Roman, the former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu, the former director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Virgil Magureanu and Miron Cozma, the former trade union leader of the miners in the Jiu Valley coal mines, in the centre-west.
The miner riots occurred less than a month after elections that had validated Ion Iliescu’s regime. Not everyone was convinced, however, that the latter was committed to democracy, the rule of law and a market economy, and many continued to voice their opposition in the street. Ion Iliescu said the right wing was trying to stage of coup and called on the population to defend the democratic institutions. Thousands of miners then came to Bucharest and stormed the University building and the headquarters of the oppositions parties and of some independent newspapers. Army prosecutor Marian Lazar explains:
“These incidents occurred as a result of the diversion and manipulation of public opinion by the state authorities represented by the defendants, who presented the situation in a distorted manner and spread the idea that they were the product of a so-called far-right, legionnaire-type, rebellion. The protesters expressing their own political opinions were presented as criminals, extremists and reactionaries and described by the president elect of Romania as ‘hooligans’. The persons forcefully detained in the University Square and others believed to be connected to the protests were taken to police barracks, subject to unlawful arrests and held in unsuitable conditions. They were kept in detention without being formally charged until 21st of June 1990 at the latest.”
Four people died from gunshots, almost 1,400 suffered physical and psychological abuse and 1,250 were detained for political reasons, according to prosecutors. Inquiries into this case were resumed at the beginning of 2015 following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that obliged the Romanian authorities to identify the people responsible. The initial case had been dragged on for almost 20 years before being closed in 2009 without anyone being found guilty. The people now sitting in the defendants’ box, in particular Ion Iliescu, repeatedly said they are not responsible for the events of June 1990. (Translated by C. Mateescu)
