The media manipulation campaign continued with a new raid at Râul Alb, on 21 May 2015. On the route of the investments, I met Dejeu Călin, Păvaloiu Dan (from TVR 2 Cluj), and two more people with video cameras. They were on the communal road, next to another property of mine upstream. I introduced myself and told them that I could show them the data of our projects, although it would have been natural for them to come openly, not to film in secret and discredit us in the press. I asked them to say what interested them and offered to be at their disposal, but I realized that they were not interested in a fair and decent dialogue. They were certainly bothered by the fact that I had come “face to face” with them, because they turned back on their own. (video 6.1)
I was together with two builders who witnessed all the discussions. At one point they told them that the way they were proceeding was not correct, because these projects really do not negatively affect the environment, as they had presented them in the press. At that meeting I did not allow them to walk on my land, but neither did I prevent them from going on their way – as they tried to insinuate in the broadcast material, claiming that “I blocked them and did not allow them to continue.” The material was broadcast on the public television station a year after the filming, exactly at the moment when the magistrates were about to rule in a dispute between us and the “activists”. Obviously, its purpose was to put pressure on the judges, not to inform public opinion. Here is the proof: at the date the material was broadcast, it was known that Dejeu Călin’s complaint was unfounded. He accused us of being part of the “timber mafia, that we cut down the forest illegally,” and he filed a criminal complaint against us to the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Haţeg Court in this regard. Following the investigations, the case was dismissed on the grounds that the deed does not exist (doc.1). Despite the evidence, on the PUBLIC television station only Dejeu’s accusations appeared, without any reference to the document that proved he was lying.
A Residence in the Built-up Area Presented as an MHP
In the spring of 2015, I began to work on a construction in the built-up area of the locality of Coroieşti which has nothing to do with the riverbed of Râul Alb. It is about a “Service residence and offices,” an investment that was not subject to environmental assessment. The residence is located in the BUILT-UP AREA, as results from the drawings related to the Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ).
Moreover, in the photographs published by Mihai Goţiu, it is clearly seen that on the public information panel it says: “Service residence and offices.” However, the propaganda continued to misinform, claiming that work was being carried out on micro-hydropower plants. The works on this project had the building permit, no. 6/ 23.09.2014 (doc.2), issued by the Sălaşul de Sus Town Hall, for which the APM Hunedoara communicated letter no. 7406/ AAA/ 18.09.2014, from which it results that “the service residence and offices is not subject to the procedures of environmental impact assessment and adequate assessment” (doc.3).
“This investment will not be carried out”
Sunday, 19 April 2015, While I was returning from a walk with my wife, I encountered an off-road vehicle on our company’s land (at Banea), in which there were three men, Munteanu Dacian, Delinesu Florin, and Costina Alexandru. They were filming the materials stored on the site, exactly in the place where the attempted murder would be committed. I introduced myself as the administrator of the company and offered to be at their disposal if they wanted information about the investment. They said they wanted to go upstream along the route of the micro-hydropower plant, and I asked their permission to get into their car to explain things to them, after which we traveled together three kilometers upstream.
The Manipulation #Does Not Resist Arguments
On 25 April 2015, “România Liberă” published an article presenting all the points of view of those involved. Dejeu Călin accused us that on Râul Alb we are dynamiting slopes, carrying out illegal deforestation, modifying the riverbed, and that we are going to “leave the Carpathians mute and disfigured!”. Also in that material, Dejeu announced that he had launched an open letter to the Ministry of the Environment asking for the suspension of our projects at Râul Alb: “Among the signatories of the letter sent to the ministry last week are environmental protection NGOs such as the Center for Sustainable Policies “Ecopolis” Association, the Agent Green Association, the Eco-Civic Foundation, WWF Romania, Terra Millenium III.” I, too, was contacted by the journalists of România Liberă, and I warned that Dejeu was deliberately misinforming, because we had not done any dynamiting of slopes, nor illegal cutting of forests or other works that would harm the environment. Likewise, I specified that I had stopped the construction work on the two micro-hydropower plants until the inspections were completed, and I explained the situation: “It is not normal; when I started this story, I was encouraged by all the institutions in the country and abroad. Now some come and say it should no longer be done. Such a thing is not possible. I put all my wealth, all my goods on the line for this thing” (art.1). This article was published one month before the attack committed against me, and it is very important for understanding the state of affairs before the attempted murder. The journalists of România Liberă presented all the points of view, namely the position of Dejeu Călin and the activists around him, my arguments, and those of the officials within the Ministry of the Environment regarding the MHP projects at Râul Alb. The alleged environmental damage and the panic of the so-called “ecological disaster” revolve around the stone crayfish, a species that Dejeu says could disappear from Râul Alb if the MHPs are built. But that hypothetical “could” is contradicted by the studies showing that such a possibility is excluded as long as the project is respected. In an authentic confrontation, based on arguments, the NGO manipulation does not #resist, as has happened in other cases as well. Remember how much hysteria was produced that the longhorn beetle would disappear if Romania builds the Piteşti – Sibiu highway. Then, the cave of the ten bats near Deva generated an artificial scandal that blocked the highway works on the Deva – Lugoj section for a few months. Or the case of the birds that would have been “inconvenienced” during migration by certain wind farms. These are subjects that confirm the hypocrisy of these pseudo-environmentalists.
Defamation in Newspaper Wrapping
A few days after the appearance of the article in România Liberă, the “environmentalist” propaganda put into circulation several press articles in which a single point of view appears – that of the NGO members, obviously –, without the arguments of the specialists or of the institutions involved. Just them and them alone, with apocalyptic prophecies, insults, and lies. It was clear that an impartial and well-documented material, such as the one published by România Liberă, had caused great disturbance in the activists’ fake-news factory. The collective emotion had to be refueled through a new mobilizing manipulation campaign, which is exactly what happened. On 27 April 2015, Goţiu Mihai published on romaniacurata.ro an article in which he repeats the classic lies about dynamiting the river and the illegal cutting of the trees on the “virgin valley” (art.2). On 30 April 2015, Munteanu Dacian, the president of the NGO Society for Non-formal and Social Education, published on romaniacurata.ro an: “APPEAL FOR RÂUL ALB – Open letter to the University of Bucharest / UPDATE: The University of Bucharest’s response” (art.3). Another media attack follows, written by Goţiu Mihai, on 18 May 2015, also published on the website romaniacurata.ro: “It is a critical moment,” says Dejeu. “The valley is guarded, in mafia style, by the company’s owner and “volunteers,” with clubs and dogs” (art.4). Goțiu’s lie, with mobsters, clubs, and dogs, refers to the meeting of 19.04.2019, when I found Dacian Munteanu on my property filming the site. I was coming back from a walk together with my wife and the dog. The distortion of the facts is obvious, but, repeated endlessly, the lie finds its followers even among people of good faith. Such articles, made only to legitimize the raids of 24 May 2015 appeared periodically for seven years. Never, but never, did the activists initiate any approach to dialogue with us in order to have the details of the investment explained to them at the source, and the fact that nature can be loved and protected not only if you paint yourself green and proclaim yourself #activist, #volunteer, #rezist.
All their actions in the field had the character of raids, with the obvious aim of harassing us. Even on the Sunday on which they committed the attempted murder, they had nothing to “document” at Râul Alb, since the work on the MHPs was stopped and we were all waiting for the authorities to rule. They clearly came prepared for a scandal because they wanted “blood,” because they wanted to show the world that they make the law. And they did, however, not on their own…
Next episodes
Episode 7 – NGO Members Hunting for the Sensational
It was a Sunday, a week before the attack at Râul Alb. In the area of the construction site at Coroieşti, Sălăşan Luca and his girlfriend – Leordean Sara – made their appearance.
Episode 8 – The Apostles of the Environment, from the Fumes of the Party Straight to the Scandal
The raid on the construction site at Râul Alb of 24 May 2015 had been meticulously prepared, as results from the statements of those involved.
Episode 9 – My Life Collapsed in Less Than 30 Seconds
That is all it took the criminal who, looking at me in cold blood while he was filming, pressed the accelerator pedal until I was dragged under the car and pulled over a distance of 6 meters, moments in which the vehicle passed with the left rear wheel over me...