2. Declarations of those who were investigated in a abusive way by the authorities: 21-40

The undersigned E. C., residing in Lugoj, hereby declare as follows:

In the morning of March 18, 2004 I was involved in the violent events in a house from 64 Veseliei st. no 64. I moved to that house a few days before. In the morning, at around  8:45 I was in the kitchen when a friend of mine entered and saw a gendarme filming the inside of the house through the kitchen’s window. She closed the window and in a few moments we heard terrifying screams, bangs, broken windows and men yelling: “Down!”, “To the ground!”, “Hands to your neck!”, “Don’t move or I shoot you!” etc.

I got out in the hall to surrender, because I suspected a police control. Then for a few seconds I saw an armed man wearing a bulletproof vest and a mask on his face that brutally grabbed me and pushed me against the wall although I told him I would comply without any comments. He pushed my head to the edge of the wall and yelled at me to put my hands beyond my head and not to move or he would shoot at me. He threatened me with the gun then he broke the door of the room next to me from where he brought out by force other girls awakened with the gun pointed to their head. We were kept in this position with the head to the floor and hands to the head for several hours, our mobile phones were confiscated and on the slightest movement of ours they yelled at us threatening us with their guns.

They were walking among us stepping with their boots next to our faces. I couldn’t even breathe without being threatened. We were repeatedly told to look down so that we couldn’t see the way they frame up things. I heard when the prosecutor who was together with the gendarmes told to one of them: “Put this syringe there and start filming!” to insinuate that we are taking drugs but none of the people inside the house use drugs; none of them have body marks as a result of injections or drug abuse.

Here I declare and I emphasize the fact that I never took drugs I didn’t even see drugs in real life but only on TV. Also I did not practice and I do not practice prostitution as we were accused on TV and as  the charges upon us seem to be.

I was never forced to attend to this course I have never done any activity imposed by the course or by anybody else, except by these gendarmes who behaved as if they had to deal with ferocious criminals. Also I have never been forced to be in a certain place and I have never seen guns in any activity of the MISA yoga school.

Also, I want to mention that all this operation against us lasted for more than twelve hours and all this time we were not told anything about what we had done to deserve such a violent and inhuman treatment. We were not told not even at the prosecuting magistracy, where we were taken the same day in the afternoon, what the charges against us were. We were brought at the prosecuting magistracy where we gave some statements about the yoga school and about the reasons why I was living in that estate. Although we have been told that we are not under arrest we didn’t have the freedom to leave that place, being guarded by gendarmes.

I state all these and sign,
 
Date: 19.03.2004       

The undersigned F. E., resident in Buzau, on 1 Decembrie 1918 street, bl. 7, sc. F, I.D. :GR, 567291.

I state that being in the building from Peleaga street no. 5, I took part in the following events:

On the 18th of March 2004 at about 9.00 in the morning, I was surprised to hear some loud noises that came from the entrance of the building. When I opened the door, three men with masks attacked me, grabbed me to the floor “facing the ground” and pointed weapons to my head. They confiscated my mobile phone.

I asked for a search mandate, but they answered me with brutality: “I don’t care”. I asked what was the reason of the search  the policemen and gendarmes were doing in the house, but nobody answered my question. I was kept to the ground in the hall ,  for more minutes that seemed like hours; eventually, I was put in one room together with the other persons from the house. We were forced then to lie down facing the floor and hands to the back. They filmed us all this time. We had been held in the same room for 10 hours. In the meantime they searched the whole house.

 They confiscated from me many things: books, yoga courses, photos, telephone agenda, photo camera, documents, birth certificate, graduation diploma, passport, university degree, work document, courses, papers and money (320$ and 35 euro).

The persons from the building who witnessed  the search told me that the series of the money and their amount were not written in the proceedings.

We were forced to go to the prosecutor’s office without being told  the reason.
I solicited a lawyer but they didn’t send me one. I was intimidated and my statement for them was under dictation. I was retained 3 hours in psychological pressure.

I consider that they violated the human right for defense.

Data : 19.03.2004

The undersigned L. C., with domicile in Romania, Călăraşi, declare the followings:

I have practiced yoga within the M.I.S.A. yoga school in Romania for 12 years.

In the year 1996, following a raid of the Romanian Police at the sport hall of the “Leu” Complex (within the Electronic Faculty in Bucharest) where yoga courses were taking place, they started a controlling action upon the yoga practitioners all over the country, including me. Your organization is certainly well informed on the abuses they did then, being very violent with the yoga practitioners.

Afterwards I received an official paper asking me to present myself at the Călăraşi Police, the Office for Organized Crime, in order to give a statement. Because in the respective day I would have an exam at the Management Faculty within the “Spiru Haret” University in Bucharest, I asked the policeman to have a discussion right then and I invited him in.

He compelled me to write a statement and to describe in detail the activity within the yoga course. He threatened me with a Police search if I don’t give him the yoga courses and books. When I refused he said “I have nothing against you. We want the big chief, Bivolaru.” He insisted that I would write the statement and that I would give him at least some books so he wouldn’t have to come back.

I surrendered because at that moment I didn’t know that his request was illegal.

I wrote a one-copy statement and gave it to the policeman, and the books he took were not written on any written report.

I wrote an official complaint to the prosecutor’s office in Călăraşi and I received an answer after 4 years. In this answer I was requested to come to the prosecutor’s office to write another statement. In the end of the statement I just asked to be returned the books which had abusively been kept. I have never seen them back.

Then I learnt most of the yoga practitioners in Călăraşi had been called to the Police station with the yoga books and courses that they never got back. They have been interrogated and treated like common criminals in a country which is supposed to respect the human rights.

Concerning the present abuse of the Romanian Gendarmerie I express my complete disapproval. They made use of violence with people that did not at all fight back and, without having any proof, accused them of drugs trade, organized crime and persons trade.

I ask you to firmly take action against these abuses and unashamed conducts that encroach upon the human rights in this supposedly democratic country.

March 26th 2004

 

My name is L. M., I declare: beeing in my house from street Veseliei no. 49B, Bucharest, Romania, I was involved in the next events which shocked me.

On the date of 18.03.2004 arround 9:00 a.m. beeing in the room from the first floor of my house, I heard suddenly strong noises coming from the second floor and I saw the fence strongly shaking. I was scared deeply and I want to run away from my house. I heard a window breaking and next moment somebody throwed me to the ground with a gun at my neck. Then, they took us ( me and a friend of mine) and bring us into a room and put us with the face on the ground and with the hands on the neck, telling us not to mouve, othrwise they will shoot us , mean kill us.

They took from us our mobilphones and they turn off them; they asked me to give them my I.C.( Identity Card) and then they showed me a warrant for search.

Mr prosecutor which showed me the warrant for search didn’t prove his identity

I asked the motif of these actions but mr prosecutor answered me that I am not in the position of doing some comments, he answered me: “Enough! Without comments!”

  Date: 20 march 2004

 

My name is L. A., my profession is farmaceutical assistant.
I practice yoga in the romanian yoga school MISA since 4 years in Bucharest and I want to formulate the following:

Declaration,

To all international organisations and forums which protect the human rihgts. I do this in a desperate gesture because I don’t trust anymore the romanian state institutions, which violated gravely my rights guaranted by the Constitution. I am one of the victims of the searches made in force by the romanian police and gendarmerie in the building which is private property of my friend Lacramioara Visterneanu from the street Veseliei no. 64, Bucharest in the 18th of March 2004.

In that morning I was wake up from sleep by very loud noises and doors slapped to the walls, breaking windows and terrified screams of my friends. The house was invaded by masked gendarmes which entered through the rooflet, armed with fire guns and real ammunition, as they declared afterwards.

With an incredible brutality and lots of fervour they broke and smash everything they could in the house. I was thrown down on the floor, treated rudely, and malterated psychical for hours with the gun to my head without being told why, if I am accused of anything. I was told that its to be made only a search and that I will make a declaration as a witness. A person which recommended himself to be the procurator Delcea ordered the gendarmes to immediately shoot anyone who dares to move.

In that moments I was very much afraid for my life. I remember that at a moment I could’t breathe anymore, all of me was shivering and I was doing nothing but praying “Our Father”. The right for a lawyer was refused to me, personal goods were taken from me (jewels), documents (passport, driving licence, study diplomas). I was taken against my will to the Prosecutor’s Office where I was indirectly refused to have the right for a lawyer. I say indirect because Mrs. Procurator explained me that I am not accused of anything, that’s why I can answer to some questions and to write a declaration without a lawyer. I refused to do that without a lawyer. I was menaced by her that I will not be able to leave the office without giving a declaration, but I am not arrested. Only after I said that I know some about my rights because my father is a lawyer, she stopped all the stratagems. Than I was told that I’m free to go but the gendarmes from the door told me that nobody leaves untill new orders. In the evening, after a day when I only drinked water, to the toilet I was always allowed only together with a gendarme, while I was treated like a dangerous criminal, I was kept either facing the floor, either standing, they let me go home. During this time, the building was sealed and all the personal goods remained inside, while me and my friends remained on the street, all of us without money because even this was taken by them.
I was under the state of schock for a few days, while I couldn’t rest, couldn’t eat, shuddering to any sound or raised voice, having nightmares during the nights and found myself all the time in the state of allert.

I made for this illegalities some penal complaints to all organs in charge, but I doubt that in Romania that in Romania they will do me justice.

My public immage was gravely affected and I will tell you why. I called home, to reassure my parents and to tell them that it is nothing true what the television and press shows: that I don’t take drugs (to proove this I made a test antidrug and the result I’ll annex as a xerox copy), that I am not joining any paramilitary organisation, that the yoghis don’t have weapons and that I am not practicing prostitution, but for my surprise we had some awkward discutions. The neighbours and the people I know that are not yoghis are looking at me very strangely and whisper when I pass them by, the children shout “the Bivolars!” or “at what page are you?”. All of them look at me as if I were a prostitute, or in the best case, a freak.

To my stupor I can note that the illegalities are continuing, meaning that the Police, the Gendarmery and the Magistracy were mistaking and made “the biggest judicial error”, with the grave violation of human rights – as acoleague said – the press and the teelvision are making a huge campain of defamation not only upon our spiritual mentor, the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru and the MISA, but especially on those who practice yoga. They started somekind of public process where they tell their personal opinions and instigate to violence against us. Under the pretext that

They want to let the truth to be known, they publish and show at the TV private pictures they took during the search and video tapes in which they want to show clearly the faces of the yoga practicioners accompanied with all kind of accuzing and denigrating comments. In this way we are exposed to the public disapproval. I was warned by different coleagues that different men civil dressed are going to the associations of lodgers and through different methods are trying to determin the neighbours to write complaints against the yoghis that are living there. Some televisions were doing this aswell, trying to obtain interwieves from aquaintances and neighbours, but for our luck, they stopped because they were all favourables for us.

Incredible but true, the Police, the whole Justice machinery and the mass media seem to colaborate “fruitfully” for making us “persona non grata” and I don’t understand why, because our only fault really is that we practice yoga. I would ask: who is afraid of yoghis?, meaning of harmonious, healthy, pure people which want sincerely only the good of the mankind, the installing of th mondial peace and we make in this sense many meditations and we pray for this to God. For I know that I am not guilty of anything, I beg you from all my heart to intervein in some way to help me regarding the illegalities that are made upon me and in this way, certainly, that my public immage will be rehabilitated. Thank you.

Data : 29.03.2004

 

I, M. R., resident  in  Drobeta  Turnu-Severin, declare  the  following: on  the 18th  of March 2004 9 a.m., I  was in  the kitchen  of the  house  from  str. Peleaga  nr. 9 ,where I  was  aggressed  by  3  gendarmes  with  masks  and  guns  who  threw  me  against  the floor  with  a  gun  pointing  to my  head , keeping  me  like  this  for  about  20  minutes after  which  they  kept  me  for 10  hours  in  terror  without  food  ,together  with my  other colleagues. I  was left  without  money , my personal  notebook  and other  intimate things  ,mobile  phone  and other  objects  which were confiscated.

I want to mention that I was terrorized both physically and psychically  for about 10 hours, I was not allowed to eat or to  call  by  phone  a  lawyer I was entitled  to.

They used offending and obscene words , threatened me with guns, I lived  a real nightmare.

After  10 hours  of  terror  I  was  taken  to  the Prosecutor’s Office , where I  was  forced  to give false  declarations  and  I  was  intimidated  with  all kinds  of threats  and  even  with  guns.

I  mention  that  I  have never practiced  group sex or other obscenities I was accused of.I do not find it normal that they treat me so brutally and that they use such obscene words .

Date: March 19, 2004

 

The undersigned M. C. located in Botosani, I declare the following:

At the date 18.03.2004, 9.00 AM, I was in the house located Turturica street no 103 sector 5 when I heard banging at the house door, in a few seconds and without warnings the police forces get into the house with their faces covered, screaming “Get out and get laid on the floor”. We were transported in the basement of the house with the guns pointed on us, were we are obliged to lie down on the floor with our hands fully displayed. After that I was searched by the police forces.

While I was transported out of the room I have sow 2 persons that filmed the action. We were asked if we have mobile phones and we were obliged to bring the phones and switch them off. After that we put the phones on the table, in the hall. I requested the right to be assisted by a lawyer. One of the police force screamed “Shut up and lay on the floor” pointing the gun on me. I, together with other persons, requested the paper that is authorizing the searching. Again I was threaten by the police forces.

I repeatedly requested the documents for the searching, every time they refused me. Finally we were told to wait for the prosecutor. We were very scared and intimidated so we conformed. All this we were filmed by the 2 persons. Together with the police forces they searched the room without any witness or Prosecutor.

We were asked to present the identity papers. I refused because they do not show any badge or document that can prove that the action was legal. After 1 hour of terror the police forces withdraw. One of them apologizes and says that the action was supposed to be at the neighbor house and they were just verifying the access. He said there is no problem and we were free to go.

19.03.04

My name is M. M., I am a engineer and I am working as a sales agent at the Fito-Fitt Company, Bucharest branch.

On the 18-th of March 2004, at about 12 a.m. I was driving in the Ferentari area on the Musat Street with a friend, Ionut, who asked me to stop the car in a place where he said that a strange event was happening. At about 30 metters from us there was a police van belonging to the gendarmerie surrounded by masked men wearing machine guns (at their waists) who were supervising the loading of a lorry with things from the appartment.

Afterwards I found out that appartment was the property of Gregorian Bivolaru. After a few seconds we were surrounded by masked men together with civilians who asked for the documents of our car and they threatened us saying that they would search the car and they would also search us.

At the begining, not knowing what it was all about, knowing that they have no right to proceed with the search and not feeling quilty, we refused to do what they said.

Then they asked for reinforcements and there arrived some traffic officers  who checked very drastically all the documents of the car and also our personal documents hoping that they find something to incriminate us.

The action of intimidation went on, then civilians were called and at their arrival they threatened us that they would  arrest us if we do not allow them to do their search. In the end, as the tension was increasing, we allowed them to do the search of the car where they found an envelope with medicinal herbs (sweet basil, mint and ginseng) and they stated that those were drugs and that they keep the envelope for tests. Then, we were taken by gendarmerie’s van to the General Prosecutor’s Office, Appeal Court, Organized Crime Department and Antidrug section.

We were not allowed to contact a lawyer and we were specifically forbidden to use mobile phones in order to ask the help of a lawyer.

All this time we have been threatened and attentively guarded by the gendarmerie and by an inspector from the Prosecutor’s Office, who were watching every move we made, having their guns with them. Even when I asked permission to go to the toilet, I was accompanied and I was not allowed to close the toilet door, beeing watched like a dangerous terrorist.

There, we have been examined and they took our declarations for several hours. The incriminating envelope with medicinal herbs was held for tests and because of my insistence (I felt that they wanted to frame up an indictment) they finally agreed to seal it.

The inspector who investigated me was very agressive in the way the spoke to me, asking who sent me there, what kind of connections I have with Gregorian Bivolaru and with the Movement of Spiritual Integration in the Absolute, if I practice yoga, to admit that I practice yoga and that Gregorian Bivolaru sent me there to see what were they going to do there.
He tried to make me write what he wanted, threatening me with the custody in the case in which I was not going to tell them what they wanted.

When they realized that I did not intend to lie in my statement, they gave up applying psychical pressures on me. I have to mention that, at the beginning, we have been taken into a room which seemed to be the headquarters of the entire operation and in which, on a wall, was placed a map af Bucharest and above it it was the title: “The GRIEG 2004 Operation” and on there were different hachured areas of the city. All the time we have been quarded with guns, although we had been bodily searched before and we had nothing upon us.

Although I asked several times the permission to make a call, I was forbidden the right to call a lawyer.18.03.2004

I, N. K., living in Austria, declare here by the event happening on the 18th march 2004 in the house in str. Serg. Turturica 123, Bucharest.

I woke up in the morning around 8:30 and went to the bathroom in the other side of the house.While cleaning my teeth i hear violents noises on the roof just outside the bathroom. In the first moment i think about monkeys on the roof like there used to be in India.Remembering the imposibility of this, I think it must be people repairing the roof,when suddenly there apear a couple of men just in front of the window, breaking open the window with their feet. They are  wearing  masks and machine guns which they are pointing towards me.

I don’t understand what is happening, terrorists, murders, I just see these machine guns and start running for my life, I am afraid that they will kill us all and when they shout: “STAI!”, I was scared like never before in my life. i feel like running for my life, along the hallway, outside the building, enter again the next door and run up all the way to my room where I lock the door and ask my roommaid to call for help on her cellular phone. In the meanwhile they enter in the court and we can see that it is not a guerilla force like the procedure sugested but the official romanian jandarmerie.

We just succeed to call an lawer friend before we hear them breaking up all the doors. I tell to my roommaid to unlock the door so that they would not break it. But they did not even try to open the door in the usual way.

One man who is not in the uniform breaks open the door with his feet, points his revolver on me, on my roommaid, on me again, on me, on her an screams: “AFARA!” Completely scared we leave the room in our pyjamas and are directed outside and down the stairs where allready many people from the house were standing and we are filmed like criminals.

The man that broke into our room seemingly enjoyed to scare people with his revolver. He had it all the time in his hand, pointing in all directions while he was talking and shouting, the finger all the time on the trigger.

We had to stay outside and Claudiu Trandafir asked several times to be allowed to call his lawer. The answer was continuously: “NU!”. No one knew that we called the lawer allready and there is no doubt that they would never have allowed to call her. While they were checking the first two rooms, the lawer come and she had a great difficulty to be allowed to enter the house.

Throughout the whole day we were not allowed to take anything from our room (except cloth and money) especially not to use telephone or even take telephon numbers of our relatives who of course were worried.

They searched my room, threw everything out of the shelf, stept on my pictures, stept on the bed with shoes and treated my personal affairs with the atmost disrespect and even confiscated some of my personal belongings without telling me why, or what they were looking for.

Several questions why we were kept under arest, why we were not allowed to go to our rooms, why they took our personal belongings stayed without answer and only on night when we come back from the police station, we were allowed to leave the house to buy food. We were not allowed to buy food the whole day which means that I was starving.

I was in a state of shock the whole day and I still feel fear and panic if someone only hits a door. I was scared to death and I still have nio idea why they kept me under their force for a whole day without any explanation.
 
Date : 19 march 2004 

Also available in: Română