Romania’s former president and prime minister are to appear in court, charged with crimes against humanity, following a renewed investigation into the deaths of four anti-government demonstrators in 1990.
Ion Iliescu, Romania’s first president after the 1989 revolution, and ex-prime minister Petre Roman are among those indicted by the country’s prosecutor for the role they played in the brutal suppression of protests that gripped the country shortly after the fall of communism.
The protests, which began in April 1990, culminated weeks later with the so-called Mineriada (Miners’ Riot).
Initially, demonstrators had gathered in Bucharest’s University Square to voice their opposition towards the newly established government. Among their demands, the protestors called for the expedited promotion of non-communist officials and the establishment of an independent television station.
The protestors also campaigned for the adoption of legislation that would bar ex-communist officials or former members of the widely feared secret police from holding public office.
As the protests swelled, the government bussed in thousands of miners from the Jiu Valley to quell the demonstrations and save “the besieged democratic regime.” The capital soon descended into chaos with the miners using extreme violence to disperse the anti-government opposition.
“On June 13, 1990, the accused carried out a repressive crackdown on demonstrators in University Square, Bucharest,” said the prosecutor’s office.
“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,” they added.
In the ensuing bloodshed, four people were shot dead, two were raped and over a thousand injured. However, according to some victims' associations, the true death toll could stand above 100.
“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,” said the prosecutor’s office.
“The repression also targeted individuals perceived as potential dissenters, particularly students, intellectuals and those aligned with Western values.”
The prosecutor’s office also branded Romania’s leadership of the time “a systemic criminal group.”
“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 said.
Former Prime Minister Petre Roman has strongly refuted the allegations. Speaking to News.ro, Roman said: “How can a public order operation be characterized as one of repression? The accusation is absurd.”
Ion Iliescu has also denied the accusations. In 2017 the former president was ordered to stand trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the protests, only to find the case dismissed after the high court ruled the indictment invalid.
