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Former Romanian President Indicted


Former President Iliescu 9 June 2005 -- Reports say former Romanian President Ion Iliescu has been indicted on charges related to a deadly miners' march on Bucharest in June 1990.

Iliescu's lawyer, Radu Ghergovan Silinescu, told Romanian media that the charges "are very broad." The former president has parliamentary immunity and cannot face trial.

There was no immediate comment from the government or military prosecutor on the nature of the charges, and no comment from Iliescu, who is now a senator for the opposition Social Democracy Party.

Iliescu, 75, is currently in hospital suffering of heart problems.

Thousands of miners from Jiu Valley descended upon the capital on 14-15 June 1990 to put down a two-month long anti-Iliescu sit-in demonstration in downtown Bucharest.

The miners' intervention left at least six people dead, although unofficial reports say the death toll was much higher. Iliescu publicly thanked the miners for "restoring order."

(AP/RealitateaTV)

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