RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The miner’s raids, 32 years on

Bucharest commemorates 32 years since the so-called “miners raids of June 1990.

The miner’s raids, 32 years on
The miner’s raids, 32 years on

, 14.06.2022, 13:50

More than three decades have passed, but Romania is still to shed light on the darkest episode of its post-communist history. It s been three years since the High Court of Cassation and Justice had decided to return the case for a reassessment of the indictment, which it deemed non-legal. In 2017, military prosecutors had finalised investigations in the miners raids and indicted 14 persons. High-profile names, such as Romanias former president Ion Iliescu, today in his 90s, the prime minister at the time, Petre Roman, his deputy, Gelu Voican-Voiculescu, and the then director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Virgil Magureanu. According to prosecutors, they allegedly masterminded and directly coordinated the attack against the protesters in the University Square, in the centre of Bucharest, who were peacefully expressing their political opinions, which were at odds with those of the majority in power at that time.



On 20th of May 1990, five months after the fall of Nicolae Ceausescus communist dictatorship, his former minister from the 1970s, Ion Iliescu, now seen as the leader of the anti-communist revolution, won the countrys first free elections with some 85% of the votes. His party, a heterogeneous combination of real revolutionaries and second-rate communists, had also won two thirds of the seats in Parliament. Faced with the harsh verdict of the election results, the protesters, including many students, who had occupied the University Square since April, declaring it “an area free of neo-communism”, had begun to leave. Of the tens of thousands of exuberant and peaceful protesters, only several dozen people on hunger strike had now remained in the square. The police began to evacuate them on the evening of 13th of June using disproportionate force, an image reminiscent of the reprisals during the revolution.



It is still unclear today if the people who reacted by engaging in street fights with the police and occupying the headquarters of the interior ministry and the public television station really did have a connection with the people who had protested earlier in the Square. Iliescu and his people described them as “legionnaires”, a term referring to the Romanian far right in the inter-war years, and, although the army had restored order, called on the population to rescue the democracy “under threat”. The miners from the Jiu Valley, in the centre, responded to the call. They controlled the capital for only two days, the 14th and the 15th of June, taking the place of any legal authority. Enough time though to leave behind 1,300 people wounded more than 1,000 abusive arrests and at least 6 people dead. A vandalised university and ransacked headquarters of the opposition parties and independent newspapers complete the picture of the invasion.



The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Romania was to continue investigations into the case, while the former prosecutor general Laura Codruta Kovesi admitted that the inquiry into the miners riot was “one of the biggest dissatisfactions in the entire history of the public ministry”. (EE)

European Commission (photo: © European Union - Source: EC - Audiovisual Service / Photographer: Christophe Licoppe)
Today in the News Thursday, 21 November 2024

Political agreement on the new European Commission

    The leaders of the three major political groups in the European Parliament have given the green light to the members of the next...

Political agreement on the new European Commission
Photo: aep.ro
Today in the News Thursday, 21 November 2024

13 for Romania

    In Romania, presidential elections usually spark the greatest interest and emotions. Even more so this year, when the two rounds of the...

13 for Romania
Gas consumption in the EU (Credits: magnascan-pixabay-com)
Today in the News Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Romania’s natural gas, available for trading

On Tuesday, the Romanian company Romgaz launched its first issue of bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, worth 500 million EUR. Romgaz is the...

Romania’s natural gas, available for trading
Photo: roaep.ro
Today in the News Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Romania ahead of the presidential election

Next month, President Klaus Iohannis will end his second and last five-year term in office according to the Romanian Constitution. The so-called...

Romania ahead of the presidential election
Today in the News Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Romania’s Prime Minister on a visit to Brussels

NATO welcomes Romania’s continuous efforts and its significant contribution to strengthening the Alliance and Euro-Atlantic security, NATO...

Romania’s Prime Minister on a visit to Brussels
Today in the News Monday, 18 November 2024

Downward forecast from the European Commission

Romania’s economic growth estimate has been recalculated by the European Commission (EC), at a value well below the initially established...

Downward forecast from the European Commission
Today in the News Monday, 18 November 2024

35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall, 35 years ago, represented for Romanians an encouragement in their fight for freedom, and the removal of the Iron Curtain...

35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall
Today in the News Friday, 15 November 2024

European minimum wage in Romania

The law on the introduction of the European minimum wage in Romania was promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has...

European minimum wage in Romania

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company