Illegal logging claims victims in Romania

Two journalists and one environmental activist were severely beaten while documenting illegal logging in a forest in Suceava county. A group of 20 individuals attacked them with sticks and axes, injuring the three and destroying all their equipment, writes Cristian Gherasim, Bucharest correspondent.

All three ended up in hospital with various injuries. One of the attacked journalist told investigators:

"Suddenly I saw 20 people with axes and sticks in their hands assaulting us, with the forestry engineer leading the way. We took refuge in a nearby car but we got thrown out of the car. I was hit in the face and I fell into a ravine, then I called the emergency number 112."

Several of the attackers have been identified and taken to the police station.

The attack was quite severe as the three ended up wounded in hospital and two of the victims lost consciousness while being taken into medical care.

A local environmental NGO announced that also a film documentarist was amongst the victims, together with a well-known local activist and advocate against illegal logging.

“His video equipment and all records were destroyed. Along with him was colleague and environmental activist Tiberiu Boșutar, who helped identify evidence of forest crimes in Bucovina region”, said the NGO.

Activist Tiberiu Boșutar later said that both he and one of the cameramen lost consciousness for a short time during the aggression.

Illegal logging has been plaguing Romania’s forests for decades now. Twenty million cubic meters of wood are illegally cut every year in the country, according to data provided by the National Forest Inventory.

Last year, according to a country report the intensive exploitation of the Romanian forests led to an economic loss of approximately 6 billion EUR / year.

Logging is a very profitable business in Romania and wood theft is a multi-million-dollar crime. Data coming from the Romanian Ministry of Environment shows that the yearly income of companies dealing in wood cutting and processing had a total overall income of 2.5 billion EUR. Activists claim that more than half of that stems from illegal wood, untraced and untaxed.

In all began after the fall of communism when large scale logging was encouraged by the state, making it easy for illegal cuts to emerge. Corruption enable illegal cuts to even take place in reservations across the country and led to everyone being involved, including the very forest rangers that should prevent this from happening. In addition to forest rangers, civil servants high and low have several times been caught in selling and processing of illegal wood.

But illegal logging does not only cost money but also lives. The 3 injured for investigating illegal logging are not an isolated case, but rather the norm lately. Six forest rangers have been killed and 650 have been attacked and threatened over the past years by illegal loggers upon being caught in the act prompting many to call for the government to take action. And they aren’t the only ones calling for authorities to act.

The head of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania reacted saying that this is inadmissible to be attacked while doing your job, and the national authorities must take all necessary measures to protect the freedom of the press.

The attack on the journalist comes after the European Commission called on member states to improve the safety of journalists.

The European Commission Representation in Romanian pointed out that illegal logging is an ongoing issue in Romania that spread significantly across the country with several cases of investigative journalists being attacked on site over the past years and many threatened.

“It is inadmissible to be attacked while doing your job. Information is a public good. We need to protect journalists, because they are the ones who ensure transparency. National authorities must take all necessary measures to protect freedom of the press, in accordance with the values underlying the European Union and enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced, the Commission is working on a law to guarantee the independence of the press. If we defend our press, we defend our democracy at the same time!”, said the head of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania.

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