Romania's Iliescu Cancels Pardon For Miner Leader

17 December 2004 -- The office of Romania's President Ion Iliescu said he has revoked the pardon of a miners' leader.
Yesterday, Iliescu, a former top communist leader, pardoned Miron Cozma, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence for leading miners to Bucharest on a rampage in 1991. The miners' attack left three dead and led the government to resign.

Iliescu's spokeswoman Corina Cretu said from Brussels, where Romanian officials are attending a European Union summit, that Iliescu decided to cancel the pardon after a public outcry and following consultations with Prime Minister Adrian Nastase.

Romanian President-elect Traian Basescu today refused to travel to the EU summit in the same airplane as Iliescu to protest Iliescu's pardon of Cozma.

(Reuters/AP/RealitateaTV)