Ion Iliescu could be prosecuted in the “Mineriada” file

Ion Iliescu could be prosecuted. Prosecutor General Alex Florența requests President Klaus Iohannis’s approval to start the criminal prosecution of Ion Iliescu in the June 1990 Mineriada file.

Initially, in June 2017, former president Ion Iliescu was sent to court for crimes against humanity, along with former prime minister Petre Roman and former SRI director Virgil Măgureanu, but in December 2020, the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to return the file to the Prosecutor’s Office Military, for rebuilding the investigation from scratch.

Ion Iliescu could be prosecuted in the “Mineriada” file

The judges have decided then canceling all the evidence collected by the prosecutors, having established the illegality of the indictment by which Ion Iliescu was sent to court, together with Petre Roman, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, Virgil Măgureanu, general (res.) Mugurel Cristian Florescu, admiral (res.) Emil “Cico” Dumitrescu, Cazimir Ionescu, Adrian Sârbu and Miron Cozma.

Practically, the prosecutors have to redo the entire procedure, including asking for approval from the head of state for the indictment of Ion Iliescu. The military prosecutors argued that, on June 11 and 12, 1990, the state authorities decided to launch a violent attack against the demonstrators in the University Square in Bucharest, who were campaigning mainly for the adoption of point 8 of the Timişoara Proclamation and expressing, in peaceful way, political opinions, in contradiction with those of the majority that formed the political power at that time.

Ion Iliescu could be prosecuted. Photo source: EVZ Archive

What the Military Prosecutor’s Office said about the attack on the morning of June 13, 1990

In this attack, forces of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Defense, the SRI, as well as over 10,000 miners and other workers from several areas of the country were allegedly involved, illegally.

According to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, the attack was carried out in the morning of June 13, 1990, with the following consequences: the death by shooting of four people, the injury to the physical or mental integrity of a total number of 1,388 people, the deprivation of the fundamental right to freedom, for political reasons, of a total number of 1,250 people.

Ion Iliescu, accused of having given the order

As part of this action, more than 200 people were picked up and transported to a military unit of the Ministry of the Interior in Măgurele, where they were detained until the afternoon of the same day, when they were allowed to leave after a brief investigation.

The former president Ion Iliescu was accused by the military prosecutors of being the one who gave the order for the forced evacuation of the demonstrators from the University Square, including by using some workers from the big enterprises in Bucharest, informs Agerpres.