>
>Rosia Montana 23 January 2008
>
>Dear members of the press
>
>It is with great pleasure that I allow myself to announce that yesterday
>Alburnus Maior secured one its most significant legal victories. Please
>find attached our relevant press release which I hope will be of interest
>to you.
>
>With best wishes
>
>Eugen David
>President
>Alburnus Maior
>
>***************************************




Alburnus Maior
Press Release

For Immediate Distribution


Justice for Rosia Montana!

Alba Iulia?s Court of Appeal
declares that
Rosia Montana?s Urbanistic Plans are illegal!


Rosia Montana/ Romania; 23 January 2008 ? The Alba Iulia Court of Appeal has ascertained the illegality of Rosia Montana?s urbanistic plans. They had been approved by the Rosia Montana Local Council in July 2002 to turn Rosia Montana into an industrial area exclusively reserved for Gabriel Resources? mine proposal. The court?s decision is irrevocable.

Rosia Montana?s urbanistic plans ? the General Urbanistic Plan (PUG) and Zonal Urbanistic Plan (PUZ) for the Industrial Development Area of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) were exclusively financed by RMGC and submitted for approval to Rosia Montana?s Local Council in July 2002 to initiate the gold mine?s licensing procedure. The urbanistic plans banned any kind of economic activity in the area under the project?s footprint. The change of Rosia Montana?s status of a residential area to an industrial area also saw the inception of the relocation and resettlement of the local population and the entire public infrastructure (schools local medical unit roads etc.). Since 2002 RMGC?s Urbanistic Plans blocked numerous local development initiatives in areas such as tourism agriculture services etc. because the plans prohibited the construction of new buildings; including on private property1. In reaction various locals from Rosia Montana argued that their constitutional right to a free economic initiative and private life had been violated.

During all the 6 years while the Urbanistic Plans in place they were constantly contested by the members of the Alburnus Maior Association; due to the flagrant illegalities which made had made these Plans exist in the first place. The majority of the local counsellors who endorsed the Urbanistic Plans with their vote were at that time in conflict of interests due to the fact that either they themselves or close relatives were RMGC employees. The directly affected population was never consulted by the Local Council which in its turn didn?t even follow the legal procedures concerning the environmental impact assessment for PUG and PUZ.

In December 2007 the local community submitted over 100 petitions to the Rosia Montana Local Council; requesting a change of the respective Urbanistic Plans. They requested new Urbanistic Plans that would respect the constitutional right to a free economic initiative and allow for environmental rehabilitation works of the areas impacted by historic mining. They also asked for protection measures and an action plan to save Rosia Montana?s cultural patrimony. Via the decision of the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal the Local Council now has a chance to honour the petitioners; to revoke its past and illegal decisions and to start the procedures for new Urbanistic Plans.

The decision of Alba Iulia Court of Appeal will lead to the annulment of urbanistic certificate No.68/2004 issued by the County Council Alba for RMGC in order to initiate the environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure in 2004. The Ministry of Environment will be obliged to return the request to obtain an environmental accord for the Rosia Montana project to RMGC. Assuming that RMGC will insist in still not wanting to abandon its gold mine project then it will have to go back to the very beginning of the licensing process and find ways to first and foremost obtain a new mining licence for the perimeter of Rosia Montana. This first step will need at least 10 years of efforts; or at least as long in time as it took for the authorisation process so far.

?I was continuously inspired by the energy and the strength of the people from Rosia Montana; people who wish to remain here and who always believed that justice will ensure that their voices will be respected. I feel honoured to have been able to contribute to various of these actions and I am particularly proud of this latest verdict and this because it represents a very important victory for the locals? declared
attorney Andreea Szabo.

?The verdict taken by the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal establishes in an irrevocable manner that all authorization actions taken by RMGC have illegal administrative documents at their base. It is well known that ?pyramidal? businesses built on corruption while paying no respect to citizens and their constitutional rights are meant to collapse? underlined attorney Lect. Dr. Marius Liviu Harosa.

?I hope that this victory is not an exception that will only work for Rosia Montana but that it is a sign that Romania as a whole is progressing towards greater justice? declared Eugen David president of Alburnus Maior.

* * *

For more information please contact attorney Andreea Szabo ? +40 745 617968 or attorney Lect. Dr. Marius Liviu Harosa ? +40 744 599762 or contact alburnusmaior At ngo.ro.



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