|
|
|
|
|
MineriadThe Mineriad (Mineriada in Romanian) is a parody term following the names of classic events like the Olympics (Olimpiada in Romanian) or the Crusades (Cruciada in Romanian) representing a gathering of people with a usually honourable goal. In the case of the Mineriads, the Romanian miners of Jiu Valley were deceived by occult networks that "foreign forces were trying to compromise the Romanian democracy and instate anarchy in Romania" and were called in to Bucharest to help the "besieged democratic regime" and restore order and democracy in Bucharest. A democracy and order "disturbed" by a months long demonstration labelled in the same parodic style Hooliganiad (Golaniada in Romanian), happening in University Square and trying to attain official recognition for the 8th demand of the popular Proclamation of Timişoara, which stated that the communists should be prevented from holding official functions — the elected president of Romania, Ion Iliescu being a former Communist himself. The devastating effect of the Mineriads upon Romania's international image was "certified" by Ion Iliescu's public message of gratitude towards the intervention of the miners. The Mineriad of 1990 was a staged event, not a spontaneous one, and had political implications, going all the way to the Presidency and National Secret Services. The Mineriads of 1990 and 1991 stand alongside the events in Trgu Mureş in 1990 as examples of mass manipulation in a KGB style. The most violent mineriad was the one from the days of 13-15 June 1990. January 1990 mineriad 28 January After the National Salvation Front's decision to transform itself into a party, an anti-Communist manifestation took place in Bucharest's Victoria square (Piaţa Victoriei), organised by the Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD), National Liberal Party (PNL), and other smaller parties. The manifestation was mainly aimed at Ion Iliescu, protesters waving banners reading "He who spent five years with the Russians, cannot think like Bush", "We don't want neocommunism" or "Yesterday Ceauşescu, today Iliescu". The National Salvation Front (FSN) also organised a manifestation, bringing in workers from factories in Bucharest that, armed with clubs and crowbars, chanted what will become the 'motto' of the first three Mineriads: "Death to intellectuals!". Even if the anti-Communist manifestation started out, and was intended to be, non-violent, the protesters charged on the Parliament building and demanded their resignation. After that, the FSN started talks with opposition parties. In the mean time, Ion Iliescu called upon the population of Romania to come to Bucharest to protect democracy. 29 January On the morning of the 29th of January, over 5,000 miners from Jiu Valley came to Bucharest, heeding the leaders' call, armed as the FSN supporters. They headed out for the PNŢCD and PNL headquarters and attacked and devastated them. In a rather dramatic moment, Petre Roman, Prime Minister at the time, came in a military vehicle and pulled Corneliu Coposu from his party's besieged headquarters. Iliescu and Roman then addressed the crowd, calming things and sending the miners home. February 1990 mineriad Less than a month after the January mineriad, another anti-Communist manifestation took place in Bucharest (February 28). Despite the demonstrators' pleas to non-violence, several persons started throwing stones into the Government building. Riot police and army forces intervened to restore order, and on the same night, 4,000 miners rushed into Bucharest. Their "services" weren't needed any more, but they threatened they will return in force whenever somebody opposed the government. Opposition leaders and independent media speculated that the demonstration was manipulated by Securitate and FSN. June 1990 mineriad Overview Many people, especially the intellectuals, were dissatisfied with Ion Iliescu's first government, made up mostly of former communists, because it implemented reforms very slowly or not at all. There had been a protest and hunger strike since 20 May, the general elections day, when the protesters were angry that Iliescu's FSN won the elections mostly because the opposition had no chance to mount an effective campaign, and that former communists were in power — the only other country of the ex-Soviet bloc in which this happened was Bulgaria, where the Socialist Party won a 52.7% majority. During the third Mineriad, seven people were killed and more than a thousand were wounded. Prelude On 22 April, the PNŢCD and other parties organised a demonstration in Aviators' Square. After the peaceful demonstration, groups of people marched towards the Romanian Television (TVR) station, calling for its political independence. They continued their protest in the University Square and decided to sit in overnight. Two days later, they were still there, their numbers growing. They stated that they will not leave the Square, dubbing their protest the big anti-communism protest. Ion Iliescu called the protesters 'hooligans', an insult that was adopted by the protesters, giving the demonstration its name, the Golaniad. In the months that followed, 'hooligans' became the symbol of anti-communism in Romania. Their main requests were the adoption of point 8 of the Proclamation of Timisoara (no ex-communists in the new government), the TVR's independence, and enquiries about the truth of the Revolution. The Geology Faculty's balcony became the stage for almost a month of protest. On 11 June, the negotiations of the government with the demonstrators failed. About 100 people, dissatisfied with the result of the dialogue between the government and the hunger strikers, started rioting in Victoria Square (Piaţa Victoriei) and closed in on Victoria Palace (Palatul Victoriei, the government's headquarters). The police, military police and army forces appeared, together with some armoured personnel carriers. The police pushed the demonstrators back to Victoria Way (Calea Victoriei) and retreated towards the Palace. On 12 June, there was a meeting in Victoria Palace in which it was decided to "liquidate" the demonstration in University Square. At 4:00: The police forces attacked the hunger strikers. The tents were ripped up and destroyed, medical files disappeared and personal objects were confiscated. The strikers were beaten up and arrested, but some escaped and took refuge in the hall of the Intercontinental Hotel. 5:00: The policemen attacked the Architecture Institute (Institutul de Arhitectură), beat up the students, surrounded the Square and build barricades from vehicles. The representatives of the Police Press Bureau declared they don't know what's happening in the city centre. 9:30: Demonstrators appeared around the barricade built between Colţea Hospital and "Luceafărul" Cinema and started chanting anti-government protests: "Jos Chiţac", "Jos Iliescu!", "Jos comunismul!". Many arrests took place. 11:00: The number of arrests were made public by radio: about 240. At the Architecture Faculty (Facultatea de Arhitectură) there was a press conference of agressed students and hunger strikers who managed to evade arrest. 12:00: The Architecture Institute was assaulted by a group of men shouting: "I.M.G.B. makes the law!". Another group, mostly of women, shout: "I.C.T.B. makes the law!", brandishing clubs, crowbars and other such things. The students barricaded themselves, but the building was assaulted. The police showed up. Other groups shouted out anti-governmental protests and split apart the two groups of workers. Curious people started to appear. 14:00: From the Academiei and Colţei streets Molotov cocktails were launched. Between the University, Architecture Institute and the Negoiu Hotel, the crowd shouts and boos. The police appear, but withdraw because people are throwing bottles and rocks from the rooftops. 17:30: The demonstrators smashed the police barrage and reached the balcony. More policemen appeared, but are forced to withdraw under the heavy "artillery barrage" of rocks and bottles. An explosion sets on fire the police bus which blocked the entry to the square. The police withdrawn and the square was occupied. At the truck barricade on Oneşti street a bus was set on fire. At the balcony of the Geology College (Facultatea de Geologie), Marian Munteanu, head of the Student League from Bucharest University, announced that the students are on strike and would barricade themselves in the building until their arrested colleagues were released. Shortly after, the main HQ-s of the: Bucharest Police (Poliţia Capitalei), Interior Minister and SRI were attacked. Molotov cocktails were thrown, fires were started, acts of violence took place, documents and objects were destroyed and people were sequestrated. There were rumours that trains full of miners were heading for Bucharest. Ion Iliescu described the atmosphere of that day: "The Romanian Capital lived a nightmare. The population was horrified by the scenes of violence and anarchy. Explosions and fires in the central points, clouds of smoke over the city, on the streets battles harassing between the police and demonstrators, fright and general confusion. The police forces were absolutely overwhelmed". Ion Iliescu gives an address to the public, urging them to oppose the violent acts and do everything they can to re-establish order. 18:00: Thousands of demonstrators gather in the Television yard, although the zone was guarded by police and civilians. People armed with clubs and other improvised weapons get to the entrance to Pangratti Street. Violence occured. Broadcasting was interrupted. In the building of the Television, the film archive was destroyed, along with IBM subtitle machines, montage rooms and mobile phones. The telephone wires were cut, documents were stolen or destroyed, windows were broken and people were violently attacked. In the early morning, between 10,000 and 12,000 miners from the Jiu Valley reached Bucharest. They head for Victoria Square where they were welcomed and bread was distributed to them from army vehicles. Even on the way to the square they attacked at least one man, who had been deemed to represent the opposition. A number of officials appear at the Council of Ministers at Victoria Square, and finally Iliescu showed up accompanied by representatives of the miners. In his speech he accused the demonstrators of the University Square of being alcoholics, drug addicts, fascists (making reference to the 'Legionnaires' of the WWII period), and bandits. In the square were also groups carrying banners showing that they were from particular factories. The miners were thanked for their presence, and whether or not Iliescu directly told them to clear the University Square, the bands of miners appeared to be led by a man with a clean "miner's suit" on and an arm-band with the colours of the Romanian flag. Armed with clubs, chains, crowbars, etc. the miners started punishing those who they thought were guilty for the violence of the previous day. The violence was mostly blamed on the opposition. The miners took the opposition leader's photographs and set off to find them. Many people who even looked like the opposition leaders were badly beaten up, including the people who were on the streets that day. The headquarters of the political parties from Bucharest were assaulted. The Museum of the Romanian Peasant was devastated (because it was mistaken for the headquarters of National Peasants' Party - PNŢCD). Also, the newspapers and magazines Romnia Liberă, Dreptatea, Expres, 22, Baricada were attacked and devastated, and many newspaper workers were beaten up badly. The miners rush into the building where Romnia Liberă was printed, destroyed everything that they could see and scare the hell out of the employees. Romnia Liberă, like many other publications, was not published in the interval of 15-18 June. Other people subjected to the fury of the miners were also the students. The University and Architecture Institute were devastated and many students were beaten up badly: five people were killed and 462 injured. Marian Munteanu, their leader, was also one of them. The witnesses of that day declared that many atrocities took place: innocent people were attacked, some because they were mistaken for other people, others because they had a beard, girl students because their skirts were too short and mostly anyone who dared to have opinions. The miners took most of the people they arbitrarily arrested to the nearby Ministry of the Interior, where they had to pass a gautlet of fists and clubs before they were taken in by the officials. The latter was a clear example of collusion between the miners and the officials of the government. For some reason, tanks and armoured cars were also manoeuvring in the streets close to the Ministry of the Interior. From 14-15 June the arresting of the people involved in the demonstration of University Square continued. Aftermath From the report of Gheorge Robu and interior minister Doru Viorel Ursu: from the events of 13-15 June 185 people were arrested; 34 put on trial; 2 freed; 17 freed under parole from medical examinations; 81 freed under parole; 51 remained under arrest. The international public was horrified by the events of Bucharest, and all sympathy the new Romanian government had gained after the events of December 1989 was lost. The consequences were disastrous, the price paid to annihilate a riot that lasted 53 days non-stop were too great, mostly because Iliescu thanked the miners for their "help". Of the large community of Romanians living in Canada, most fled to the respective country following the events of 13-15 June. The demonstrations in University Square persisted until about 24-25 August 1990. Many people rioting shouted: "Iliescu, be a boyar, go and be a miner!" ("Iliescu fii boier, du-te şi te fă miner!"). After 13-15 June, on the walls of the Architecture College (Facultatea de Arhitectură) graffiti could be seen that read: "Tiananmen Square II" (Piaţa Tien An Men II) In a hilarious statement, Ion Iliescu later claimed he called the miners to Bucharest to plant pansies in University Square. September 1991 mineriad The fourth mineriad began on 24 September, under the pretext that the Petre Roman government did not gave a solution to their demands, but it is alleged that it was due the fact that there were some disagreements between President Ion Iliescu and reformist Prime Minister Petre Roman. The miners occupied the town hall of Petroşani and from its balcony, Miron Cozma said "We're going to Bucharest". They hijacked a train and several thousands miners left toward the Victoria Palace, the headquarters of the government. Petre Roman refused to negotiate with them and the miners began attacking the guards of the government. The Roman government resigned a day later. Before leaving, the miners went to the Chamber of Deputies asking for Iliescu resignation, but Iliescu discussed with Miron Cozma and the miners left Bucharest. Three people died and 455 were wounded during this mineriad. January 1999 mineriad The miners left again for Bucharest, unhappy with the governmental reduction of the subsidies, which would result in the closing of the mines. The barricade installed by the gendarmes at Costeşti was crossed by the miners and near Rmnicu Vlcea a gendarmes unit was ambushed by the miners. Reaching Rmnicu Vlcea, they sequestered the prefect of Vlcea county. Radu Vasile, Prime Minister at the time, negotiated an agreement with Miron Cozma, the miners' leader, at the Cozia Monastery, nearby. February 1999 mineriad On 14 February 1999, Cozma was found guilty for the 1991 mineriad and sentenced for 18 years in prison. The miners led by Cozma left for Bucharest and were stopped by the police at Stoeneşti, Olt. In the battle, 100 policemen and 70 miners were wounded and one miner died. Cozma was arrested and sent to Rahova prison. Ion Iliescu pardoned Cozma's sentence on December 15 2004, a few days before his term ended, but revoked the decision two days later, having faced the outrage of Romanian and international media and politicians. External links
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|