Mineriad

Prime Minister Florin Citu states that justice still owes Romanians with finding the truth about the Mineriad [the miners' riot] of June 13-15, 1990. "It has been 31 years since one of the darkest periods of our post-December history, when the then halls of power pitted Romanians against Romanians.

The violent events of 13-15 June 1990 remained known in post-communist memory as "Mineriad of 13-15 June 1990" and refer to the repression, by law enforcement forces, with the help of miners, of protest rallies in the University Square of that period.

According to a disputed official toll, deemed overly conservative by many, six people died and over 500 were injured between June 13 and 15, 1990 in what became known as the "mineriad", as the security forces and mineworkers embarked on a joint repressive spree, with the workers acting as paramilitaries to strike fear into government critics and dissidents.

President Klaus Iohannis stated on Thursday that "University Square" represents a "testament that we must cherish and respect." "Today, 30 years since those bloody events, Romania is a rule of law, with a consolidated democracy, profoundly attached to the European and democratic values, and the civil society is categorically stronger and more consolidated.

Military prosecutors of the Romanian Supreme Court on Friday indicted former president Ion Iliescu and other former senior officials with crimes against humanity for their role in the violence in 1990 that left at least four dead and over 700 wounded in Bucharest. 

Former Romanian President, Ion Iliescu, was charged with crimes against humanity for his alleged participation in a 1990 violent suppression of an anti-government demonstration.

Iliescu was summoned on Wednesday at the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Romania's Supreme Court, to be officially informed of the charges, AGERPRES news agency informs.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice confirmed on Monday the decision of General Prosecutor Tiberiu Nitu to reopen the investigation on the June 13-15 1990 miners' riot, involving former President Ion Iliescu.

Photo credit: (c) Sorin LUPSA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE