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Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Greenpeace militants protest in Romania at Canadian gold mining project

Twenty militants from the global environmental group Greenpeace protested Tuesday in Bucharest against a Canadian open-air miningproject in the Rosia Montana region of central Romania.

Two Greenpeace members chained themselves to the fencing in front of theseat of government in central Bucharest while several others unfurledtwo banners reading "Nastase, save Rosia Montana," in reference to Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Ana-Maria Bogdan said the protestors were"brutally" dispersed by police.
"Before understanding what was happening, several dozen policemen intervened brutally to force us to leave the place and made us go downinto the metro station" close by, Bogdan said.

The Greenpeace militants were then forced on to a metro train andauthorised only to alight two stations further down the line.
Eachprotestor was fined five million lei (around 125 euros).
"The Greenpeace protest was not authorised and the police intervened torestore order. There was no violence," police spokesman Bogdan Onea toldAFP.

The project of the Canadian firm Gabriel Ressources calls for extracting 300 tons of gold and 1,700 tons of silver from a 20-square-kilometre(eight-square-mile) area.

The project will see half of the local area destroyed and some 2,000 people forced to move from their homes as well as the removal of several churches and cemeteries, opponents point out.

Premier Nastase, among others, has voiced opposition to the miningproject.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 11/17/2004 02:22:00 pm