Bucharest, 12 January 1997 (RFE/RL) - Romanian President Emil Constantinescu is expected to receive a delegation of mining union officials from the Jiu Valley today to discuss the arrest of union head Miron Cosma, reports our correspondent in Bucharest.
The meeting is to take place in the capital Bucharest.
Yesterday, union officials meeting in the Jiu Valley, 350 kilometers west of Bucharest, said they could not be held responsible for any unrest among miners that might result from Cosma's arrest the day before. The charges against him included allegations that he was "undermining state authority" and breaking firearms regulations.
No details are available on the exact charges, but correspondents note that Romania's new centrist ruling coalition has pledged to bring to justice those responsible for political violence. Cosma gained national prominence as the leader of the bloody coal miners' riots in Bucharest in 1991.