Romanian Rahova Prison Facility Commission To Discuss Miner Leader Case

The spokesman of the Romanian National Prison Administration (ANP), Valentin Munteanu, said that even if the deadline set by the Bucharest Court for the meeting of the commission was November 15, commission members decided to meet Friday.

Early May, the Bucharest Court rejected the cancellation challenge through which Cozma requested the retrial of the appeal on his release on parole, the miner leader arguing that the former Romanian justice minister interfered in his trial.

On January 9, the Bucharest District 5 Court had approved the proposition of the special commission within the Rahova Prison Facility for the release on parole of the former Valea Jiului (southwestern Romania) miner leader, saying that Miron Cozma, who served 3,300 days of jail time, displayed reform in his antisocial conduct, which led to the decision to release him on parole, January 9.

After the District 5 Court decision – which was not final – former justice minister Monica Macovei said that “she felt great embarrassment” when reading the arguments of the prison commission regarding Cozma’s participation in religious and sporting activities.

Monica Macovei commented on the arguments of the special commission, which indicated that it only took into consideration Cozma’s conduct since June 2006 – the period when his second request for parole had been rejected.

Macovei said that in 2005 a special commission performed checks in the Rahova Prison Facility, where it was found that Miron Cozma benefited from preferential treatment, which led to the dismissal of the prison director.

The decision of the District 5 Court was challenged through appeal, by the Prosecutors’ Office as well as by the Association of Romanian Miner Riot Victims (AVMR), an organization that was not acknowledged as part of the trial. On February 20, the Bucharest Court approved the appeal of the District 5 Prosecutors’ Office, rejecting Cozma’s request for parole.

Cozma, together with retiring lieutenant-colonel Silviu Popescu, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment, by the High Court, on February 15, 1999, for instigation to the undermining of state power, in connection to the 1991 miner riots, which led to the fall of the Romanian Government.

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