Mineriad

Even though the anti-Communist demonstration started out (and was intended to be) non-violent, the protesters charged the Parliament building and demanded the resignation of the FSN party.

[citation needed] The miners boarded the trains at Gara de Nord and departed to their homes, but not before President Ion Iliescu thanked them for their services.

[1] The Romanian miners of the Jiu Valley were called by the newly elected power to Bucharest to end the riots that broke up on 13 June 1990.

As President Ion Iliescu put it, the miners were called to save the "besieged democratic regime" and restore order and democracy in Bucharest.

The rest of Romania and the world watched the government television broadcasts of miners and other unionized workers brutally grappling with students and other protesters.

[citation needed] In contrast to state statistics, the opposition newspaper România Liberă claimed that on 29 June 1990 over 40 bodies were buried in a common grave in Străulești, near Bucharest.

Conspiracy theories and rumors circulated as to the origins and development of the mineriad, with some believing that both the Romanian Presidency and Secret Service had a hand in it.

[2] On September 24, 1991, the miners from the Jiu Valley began a general strike and requested that Prime Minister Petre Roman visit Petroșani to listen to their grievances.

Upon hearing the news that the miners were heading to the capital, the Prime Minister and President Ion Iliescu unsuccessfully tried several maneuvers to prevent them from reaching their destination.

Miron Cozma threatened that if by 12:00 PM the resignation of the prime minister was not announced, he would call 40,000 trade unionists from Pipera, adding that probably no one wants a civil war.

[citation needed] The Jiu Valley miners left again for Bucharest, unhappy with the governmental reduction of the subsidies, which would result in the closing of the mines.

Radu Vasile, Prime Minister at the time, negotiated an agreement with Miron Cozma, the miners' leader, at the Cozia Monastery, nearby.

Cozma successfully challenged the legality of the withdrawal of the pardoning, and on the 14th of June 2005 he was freed by the Judge Court of Dolj county.