Romania is prosecuting former president Ion Iliescu for crimes against humanity

The Romanian General Prosecutor’s Office brought today official charges against former President Ion Iliescu for committing crimes against humanity in the case of the events of June 13-15, 1990, when peaceful protests in Bucharest were suppressed with the help of miners, Agerpress reported.

A team of investigators from the General Prosecutor’s Office visited 94-year-old Ion Iliescu at his home today to acquaint him with the charges, as he cannot go to the prosecutor’s office due to his age.

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Petre Roman, former Deputy Prime Minister Gelu-Voican Voiculescu, former Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Virgil Magurianu, mining leader Miron Cosma and three others were summoned to the prosecutor’s office to be informed of the charges in the same case, BTA reported.

Prosecutors must conduct the investigation anew after evidence gathered by investigators was overturned in court.

Initially, in June 2017, former President Ion Iliescu was sent to trial for crimes against humanity along with former Prime Minister Petre Roman and former SRI Director Virgil Magurianu, but in December 2020 the Supreme Court of Cassation decided to return the case to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, for to start the investigation all over again.

The judges then decided to annul all the evidence collected by the prosecutors after finding the indictment illegal.

According to the military prosecutors, on June 11 and 12, 1990, the state authorities decided to launch a brutal attack on the demonstrators in the University Square in Bucharest, who were peacefully expressing their political opinions contrary to the political authority of the time.

This attack illegally involved forces of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, SRI, as well as over 10,000 miners and other workers from different parts of the country.

According to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, the attack took place on the morning of June 13, 1990, and resulted in the death of four people, 1,388 people suffering physical or mental trauma, and 1,250 people being imprisoned for political reasons.