Romanian President Apologizes To Victims Of ‘87 Repressed Anti-Communist Riot

Basescu said, in the name of the state, he is sorry that in 17 years under the rule of law, the legal system did not do them justice and society was not encouraged to admit to its mistakes.

The head of state is attending the commemoration of 20 years since the repression of an anti-communist riot of workers in Brasov.

"What happened in Brasov in 1987 was a test of courage for the whole of Europe," Basescu said, adding the riot in Brasov is on a par with anti-communist riots in Budapest -1956, Prague -1968, Valea Jiului – 1977, Gdansk and the entire Solidarity movement in Poland in the ’80s.

Employees of tractor maker Tractorul Brasov staged a spontaneous protest in November 1987 against the county leaders of the Communist Party and against communism, voicing their poor living conditions and overdue salary payments. The riot was repressed brutally by communist authorities and many protesters were arrested, tortured and some even deported.