Episode 8 – The Apostles of the Environment, from the Fumes of the Party Straight to the Scandal

The Final Preparations Before the Attempted Murder

On Saturday evening, a day before the attempted murder, on 23 May 2015, Andrioni Alin celebrated his birthday at the Retezat guesthouse, where Leordean Vasile also appeared. That evening Păun Gabriel also arrived at the guesthouse. Dejeu recommended Andrioni Alin as a local guide and informed Păun about the “aggression” that had allegedly taken place against the two locals – Sălăşan Luca and Leordean Sara (an incident described by us in episode 7). At the party that evening at the Retezat Guesthouse, they decided that they would all go into the field the following day.
Dejeu Călin provides details about the organization of the commando unit: “I know data in connection with that incident, having found it out from telephone discussions both with Andrioni Alin-Constantin and with Sălăşan Luca and Păun Gabriel. I specify that I had discussions with Păun Gabriel on the day before the incident as well, since I had found out that he was in the Haţeg area and I knew that he was involved with the non-governmental organization he represented in combating illegal forest cuttings, more precisely in the protected areas. In that discussion with Păun Gabriel, I proposed that he go to the Râul Alb area to see what is happening in that protected area. I remember that I put him in contact with Andrioni Alin” (doc.1).Dejeu’s statements are also confirmed by
Păun Gabriel, the president of the NGO Agent Green, who admits that he was contacted by Călin Dejeu, repeatedly, over the course of the two months prior to the attack at Râul Alb. Păun says that on 23 May 2015, the day before the attack, Dejeu put him in contact with Andrioni Alin. Despite these organizational details, they all claim that they met by chance and that “by chance” they stayed at the same guesthouse in the Retezat, on Râul Mare, in an area quite far from the place of the raid. Andrioni Alin declares that: “Three days ago, I was contacted by telephone by the biologist Călin Dejeu, from the University of Cluj, who told me that I would be contacted by a gentleman from the AGENT GREEN association, whose name is Gabi Păun, who deals with investigations regarding deforestation and the non-compliance with environmental legislation. I was to be contacted on 23.05.2015, but that evening I went up to the Retezat guesthouse to celebrate my birthday. By chance, at the same guesthouse was also Păun Gabriel, together with a young woman from Austria and two journalists from Deutsche Welle” (doc.2).  In reality, there was no German journalist, but this lie, declared with a straight face before the investigators, amplified and exploited to the maximum by the trumpets of the NGO press, was to give the impression of an international scandal devastating to us.

They Did Not Even Test the Driver’s Blood Alcohol Level

Leordean Vasile is another character who claims that he “dropped by” accidentally at the Retezat Guesthouse, where he had met with the other members of the group. “I am a friend of Andrioni Alin Constantin, he being from that area, and I know that he posted on Facebook an article regarding a project for the construction of a micro-hydropower plant in the area where my sister was assaulted. (…) Last evening, namely 23.05.2015, being accommodated at the “Retezat” guesthouse, on Râul Mare, I met with Andrioni Alin Constantin, who was celebrating his birthday. Together with him there were several persons. I understood that a representative of the AGENT-GREEN agency was present, who was later introduced to me by Alin. I told him what had happened to my sister, and this representative of the AGENT-GREEN association asked us to go with them today to that place, to make a report with my sister” (doc.3). Likewise, Andrioni Alin further declares that: “I was introduced to Păun Gabriel by my lawyer, Bara Bogdan. I established together with Păun Gabriel that, the next day, namely today, we would go into the area, to see on the spot what is happening. I am a friend, being also a university colleague, of Leordean Vasile, who was also at my birthday. According to the agreement, the next day, namely today, around 11:30-12:00, I met with Păun Gabriel and his Austrian girlfriend at Sântămărie Orlea. From here, I took Păun and the Austrian woman in my car. Leordean Vasile also arrived with his car, and we left together toward Băieşti, the locality from where the latter picked up his sister and her boyfriend. In this formation, we left toward the point where the incident of a week ago had happened.”So, at least four of the members of the group partied on the
night of Saturday to Sunday at the Retezat Guesthouse on Râul Mare. Andrioni Alin drove the car over me on Sunday, at 13:00, a few hours after the party broke up, but the investigators did NOT test his blood alcohol level, although they knew that he was coming after a night of partying, because this detail was declared by everyone on Sunday evening, after the attempted murder, when the first statements were taken. Could it have been just a regrettable omission of the criminal investigation bodies? Hard to believe! Do you understand why the case was kept under investigation for more than six years? Because there are dozens of such situations in which evidence was covered up or fabricated in favor of the group that invaded my property.

The Premeditation of the Deeds

The meeting at the Retezat Guesthouse, on 23.05.2015, was not accidental. From the statements given by the members of the group, it clearly results that the next day’s raid was meticulously prepared. Andrioni Alin: “From that evening we also established who would go to the two points: me, Gabi Păun, Leordean Vasile, Leordean Sara, her boyfriend Luca, and the journalist. We all left in the direction of Râul Alb; we wanted to reach the deforestation area in the Retezat, and we arrived in the area of the signs that gave data about the construction site of the investment of Bocea Mihalache, from the area of Sălaşu de Sus commune, the village of Coroiești, Hunedoara County” (doc.4) . On 24 May 2015, Andrioni Alin, Păun Gabriel, Sălăşan Luca, Leordean Vasile, Leordean Sara, and Weidinger Gerit descended on the area, where Leordean Vasile began to provoke us and to incite to violence for no reason. In fact, the members of this group premeditated their deeds, acting “by the book.” First they built a negative image of us in the public space, which they promoted with the help of the propaganda apparatus, in order to stir up a feeling of hatred against us. They accused us, without any proof, of being “aggressive mobsters who forbid access on the valley, with clubs and dogs,” after which they came to the site several times, where they provoked and harassed us repeatedly.

The preparation of the decisive assault was the reason for the meeting of 23.05.2015 at the Retezat guesthouse, where we saw that they organized themselves and established the team that would go to Râul Alb, to confront us. The next day, they descended on our property, on the site, and unleashed the violence.