1991 mineriad. This quickly prompted a new march of the miners towards Bucharest. This time, special forces intervened and dispersed the miners at Stoeneşti, Olt County. Cozma and his lieutenants were captured by the police; Cozma himself was taken to the Rahova prison to serve his term. He was pardoned by Romanian President Ion Iliescu on December 15, 2004, only a few days before the end of the latter's final term. However, Iliescu shortly afterwards revoked the pardon on December 16, stating that "it was a mistake". Yet Cozma was released in June 2005 when the cancellation of his pardon was ruled illegal by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. In September 2005, he was sentenced by the Romanian Supreme Court to a 10-year term for the January 1999 Mineriad. His sentences overlapped, so as of June 2006 he still had to serve a 13-month concurrent sentence in prison. On June 2, 2006, Miron Cozma's request to be released on parole was denied by the Parole Commission of the Rahova Penitentiary. A Bucharest court dismissed his appeal against the decision 2 weeks later. Cozma could have left the prison 6 months before time as recommended by the Parole Commission on January 3, 2007. Although the decision was upheld by a Bucharest court on January 9, it was overturned on appeal on February 20, 2007. Miron Cozma was finally released on 2 December 2007, with a restriction on entering Petroşani or Bucharest. Upon leaving Rahova, he flew to Timişoara to meet with his family and friends. He stated in his interviews that certain politicians should have been incarcerated as well, adding "Spiritul lui Miron Cozma nu moare!" ("The soul of Miron Cozma will never die!"). In June 2013, Miron Cozma claimed during an interview that the Army used live rounds against miners. Notes References External links Jiu Valley Portal History, timelines and digital archives of the Jiu Valley Mineriads Information about the first three mineriads Digital video and photo archives of the Mineriads About Mineriad - Miron Cozma Interview 1954 births Living people People from Bihor County Mineriads Romanian trade union leaders Romanian coal miners