June 13^th, 2017

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

The Office of Information and Public Relations within the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is empowered to bring to the attention of the public the following:

In the case known as "13 - 15 June 1990 Mineriad", military prosecutors of the Military Prosecutor's Section within the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice completed the investigations and ordered the prosecution of the following defendants:

- ILIESCU ION, at the time of committing the deeds, President of the Provisional Council of National Union and elected President of Romania,

- ROMAN PETRE, at the time of committing the deeds, Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Romania,

- VOICULESCU GELU VOICAN, at the time of committing the deeds, Deputy Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Romania,

- MĂGUREANU VIRGIL, at the time of committing the deeds, Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service,

- General (res.) FLORESCU MUGUREL CRISTIAN, at the time of committing the deeds, Deputy Prosecutor General of Romania and Head of the Military Prosecutor's Office,

in terms of committing crimes against humanity, provided by art. 439 par. 1, letter a (4  material acts), art. 439 par. 1, letter g (1388 material acts) and art. 439 par. 1 letter j (1250  material acts) of the Criminal Code, with application of art. 5 par. 1 of the Criminal Code;

- Admiral (res.) DUMITRESCU EMIL, at the time of committing the deeds , member of the Provisional Council of the National Union and Head of the General Directorate of Culture, Press and Sport within the Ministry of Internal Affairs

in terms of committing crimes against humanity, provided by art. 439 par. 1, letter g (1388 material acts) and art. 439 par. 1 letter j (1250 material acts) of the Criminal Code, with application of art. 439 par. 1, art. 5 par. 1 of the Criminal Code;

 - IONESCU CAZEMIR BENEDICT, at the time of committing the deeds, Vice-President of the Provisional Council of the National Union,

- SÂRBU ADRIAN, at the time of committing the deeds, Chief of Cabinet and Advisor to the Prime Minister,

- COZMA MIRON, at the time of committing the deeds, Chairman of the "Valea Jiului" Free Trade Union League Executive Bureau,

- DRELLA MATEI, at the time of committing the deeds, union leader at Bărbăteni Mining Exploitation,

- BURLEC PLĂIEȘ CORNEL, at the time of committing the deeds, Deputy Minister of Mines,

in terms of committing crimes against humanity, provided by art. 439 par. 1, art. 439 par. 1 letter g (856 material acts) and art. 439 par. 1 letter j (748 material acts) of the Criminal Code, with application of art. 5 par. 1 of the Criminal Code;

- General (res.) DOBRINOIU VASILE, at the time of committing the deeds, Commander of the Superior Military School within the Ministry of Internal Affairs,

- Colonel (res.) PETER PETRE, at the time of committing the deeds, Commander of the Military Unit 0575 Măgurele, within the Ministry of Internal Affairs,

in terms of committing crimes against humanity, provided by art. 439 par. 1 letter g (431 material acts) and art. 439 par. 1 letter j (431 material acts) of the Criminal Code, with application of art. 5 par. 1 of the Criminal Code;

- GHINESCU ALEXANDRU, at the time of committing the deeds,  director of  I.M.G.B.,

in terms of committing crimes against humanity, provided by art. 439 par. 1 letter g (5 material acts), with application of art. 5 par. 1 of the Criminal Code.

The following resulted after administering the rule of evidence in question:

On June 11^th and 12^th, 1990, the state authorities decided to launch a violent attack against the demonstrators gathered in the University Square in Bucharest, who mainly militated for the adoption of point 8 of The Timisoara Proclamation and expressed peacefully their political views in contradiction with those of the majority who formed the political power at that time. In this attack, there were illegally involved forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of the Ministry of National Defense, of the Romanian Intelligence Service, as well as over ten thousand miners and other workers from several areas of the country.

The attack was put into practice in the morning of June 13^th, 1990, with the following consequences:
1. The shooting dead of 4 persons, facts that constitute as many material acts of the offense according to the form provided by art. 439, par. 1, letter a of the Criminal Code;

2. Harming the physical or psychic integrity of a total number of 1388 persons, facts that constitute as many material acts of the offense as provided by art. 439, par. 1, letter g of the Criminal Code;

3. The deprivation of the fundamental right to freedom, for political reasons, of a total number of 1250 persons, deeds that constitute as many material acts of the crime in the form provided by art. 439, par. 1, letter j from the Criminal Code.

During this action, more than two hundred people were taken and transported to a military unit belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Magurele, where they were detained until the afternoon of the same day, when they were left to leave after a brief investigation.
At the same time, lawless forces entered by force on the premises of The Institute of Architecture and of The University of Bucharest, where several offices were searched and the persons on the premises were evicted by acts of violence.

According to the decision taken by the President of the Provisional Council of National Union, the Prime Minister of the Romanian Government, the Deputy Prime Minister, the leaders of the force institutions, as well as of the leaders of the National Salvation Front, workers from the Enterprise of Heavy Machinery Bucharest were brought to The University Square, coordinated by their manager.

The workers were violently bullying and physically assaulting the people in The Institute of Architecture, then occupied The University Square in co-operation with the police forces to prevent the demonstrators from returning.

The actions made by the state authorities generated a violent response from the opponents, so the headquarters of the Bucharest Police, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Romanian Television and the Romanian Intelligence Service were set on fire.

The law enforcement forces made use of warfare and under these circumstances, 4 people were shot dead and 3 others were also injured by shooting.

The authorities' repression continued on June 14^th and 15^th, 1990, with a systematic attack carried out together with miners and workers from several counties of the country, which had become a true force of order, acting parallel to those recognized and organized according to the law.

In this context, the miners brought to Bucharest devastated the head-quarters of the newly formed or re-established after the Revolution of December 1989 political parties, which were in opposition. They also physically aggressed residents of Bucharest and other people connected with the demonstrations in University Square, the images of violence acts committed by miners on the streets of the city being publicized around the world.

These events were the result of diversion acts and of manipulation of public opinion by the state authorities, represented by the defendants, who presented the demonstrations in the University Square in a distorted way and accredited the idea that they were determined by a so-called   "rebellion of legionary kind ". The manifestants who were expressing their political opinions were presented as persons with criminal occupations, "extremist, reactionary elements", being labeled as "hooligans" by the elected President of Romania.

The people who were arrested from the University Square, along with others considered to be related to the demonstrations, were forcibly taken into the barracks belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, being deprived of their liberty in an unlawful manner and in places totally unfit for detention of persons. The deprivation of liberty without any legal ground lasted, at the latest, until June 21st, 1990.

In conclusion, the subject of this case is related to the deeds committed with the decision to launch the attack against the civilian population, until the last detainee that has illegally been detained was freed.

In view to administer the rules of evidence, 46 people having the quality of defendants or suspects, 1388 injured people, 146 successors of injured persons and 589 witnesses were questioned and about 2300 writs have been issued.

We mention that the file totals 413 volumes, and the relevant indictment has 2.000 pages.

The case has been submitted for competent resolution to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

We specify that, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, this stage of the criminal proceeding is represented  by finalizing  the criminal investigation and sending the indictment to the court for competent judgment, a situation that can not in any way defeat the principle of the presumption of innocence.