Doru-Viorel Ursu (1 March 1953 – 14 April 2024) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. A member of the National Salvation Front (FSN), he was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the

Petre Roman Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his government was overthrown by the intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma. He was the first prime minist ...

cabinets, carrying his mandate between the

Mineriad The mineriads ( ro, mineriade) were a series of protests and often violent altercations by Jiu Valley miners in Bucharest during the 1990s, particularly 1990–91. The term "mineriad" is also used to refer to the most significant and violent of ...

s of 1990 and 1991.

Biography

Born in

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern t ...

, Ursu graduated from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princ ...

's Faculty of Law, and later received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

from the same institution.Profile at the Chamber of Deputies site
/ref> He worked for the

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

Military Tribunal, serving as its vice president and, later, its president. Following the

1989 Revolution The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

, he became Minister of the Interior on 16 June 1990, when his predecessor, General

Mihai Chițac Mihai Chițac (November 4, 1928 – November 1, 2010) was a Romanian general and Interior Minister from 1989 to 1990 during the waning days of the Communist era. In 2008, Chițac and another general, Victor Stănculescu, were convicted of aggravat ...

, was relieved from office.Traian Ungureanu
"Dosar: mineriada" ("Dossier: the Mineriad")
, in '' 22'', Nr.797, June 2005 This came in the wake of the

June 1990 Mineriad The June 1990 Mineriad was the suppression of anti- National Salvation Front (FSN) rioting in Bucharest, Romania by the physical intervention of groups of industrial workers as well as coal miners from the Jiu Valley, brought to Bucharest by the ...

, when miners from the

Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( ro, Valea Jiului ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and ...

repressed the civic protest in Bucharest's University Square (known as the

Golaniad The Golaniad ( ro, Golaniada , from the word ''golan'' meaning "hoodlum") was a protest in Romania in the University Square, Bucharest. It was initiated by students and professors at the University of Bucharest. The Golaniad started in April 199 ...

). Ursu's alleged involvement in the events remains the topic of controversy, and his name repeatedly surfaced among those accused of covering up the actual death-toll and overall scale of violence. In 2003, ''

Ziua ''Ziua'' (''The Day'' in Romanian) was a major Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. It was published in Romanian with a fairly sizeable and often informative English section. ''Ziua'' was founded in 1994 by Sorin Roşca Stănescu, ev ...

'' newspaper reported that Ursu had authored an official account of the events in which he acknowledged that the miners had been transported to Bucharest with assistance from the authorities, that Chițac had ordered troops to offer the miners their full support and to open fire on demonstrators, and that as many as 1,200 protesters had been arrested. Răzvan Savaliuc
"Diversiunile lui Chiţac" ("Chiţac's Diversions")
, in ''

'', 13 June 2003 Official data authored by Ursu and Prosecutor-General Gheorghe Robu, released soon after the events, accounted for 185 people arrested. Ursu lost his position after the Roman government was deposed by the new

September 1991 Mineriad September 1991 Mineriad was a political action and physical confrontation between the miners of the Jiu Valley and the Romanian authorities, that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Petre Roman's government. Led by Miron Cozma, president of t ...

, but was appointed Undersecretary of State at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

in the

Theodor Stolojan Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) be ...

cabinet, and later Secretary of State, head of the Department for Local Public Administration. In 1992, Ursu rallied with the opposition party formed around the pro-Roman faction of the FSN — known after 1993 under as the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD) —, and won a seat in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

for

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești. Demographics On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2. * Romanians – 97% * Roma (Gypsie ...

during the election of that year. Subsequently, he served on the Committee for Public Administration, Territorial Improvement and Environmental Balance, and on the Permanent Committee of the Chamber and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

for Exercising

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

Control over the Activity of the

Romanian Intelligence Service The Romanian Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul Român de Informații, abbreviated SRI) is Romania's main domestic intelligence service. Its role is to gather information relevant to national security and hand it over to relevant institutions, ...

(SRI). He left the PD in March 1995, and carried out his mandate as an independent. In April 2005, the Association of Mineriad Victims argued that it had gathered enough evidence to incriminate Ursu, together with former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

and former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, for having organized and profited from the June 1990 events"Petre Roman- audiat în dosarul mineriadei" ("Petre Roman - Cited in the Mineriad Dossier")
at

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

Romanian edition, 20 April 2005 (replying on this issue, Roman argued that his cabinet had itself been targeted by the miners). The Association's president, Viorel Ene, specifically accused Ursu and, among others, the SRI's

Virgil Măgureanu Virgil Măgureanu, (; born March 19, 1941) is a Romanian sociologist that was the head of the main intelligence service of Romania, Romanian Intelligence Service, Serviciul Român de Informații, or SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service) between Marc ...

, General

Pavel Abraham Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pa ...

, and Counter Admiral Cico Dumitrescu, of having overseen the transport of protesters arrested in downtown Bucharest to military facilities around the capital, an illegal measure which, reportedly, also resulted in a widespread incidence of beatings and the murder of several prisoners. During the 2004–05 season, Doru-Viorel Ursu served as President of the

Romanian Football Federation Romanian Football Federation (), also known by its acronym FRF, is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated to FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federati ...

's Disciplinary Commission; he resigned in May 2005, citing irregularities in procedures (according to Ursu, sanctions for misconduct prescribed for local soccer clubs were regularly below standards imposed by FIFA). Ursu died on 14 April 2024, at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursu, Doru-Viorel 1953 births 2024 deaths Football in Romania Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin 20th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian Ministers of Interior University of Bucharest alumni