Over 30 people under investigation after protesting against Chevron’s shale gas exploration in Romania

The Court Prosecutor’s Office in the Romanian county of Vaslui has opened an investigation against 37 protestors who took part in the demonstrations against Chevron’s shale gas exploration in Silistea – Pungesti, northeastern Romanian, on December 7. The protestors are accused of destroying the fence surrounding Chevron’s exploration site and assaulting the gendarmes. “On December 7, the defendants destroyed the fence surrounding Chevron’s platform perimeter in Pungesti commune. The people for which the criminal investigation started have also caused incidents and assaulted employees of the Gendarmerie, jeopardizing their safety,” spokesman of the Vaslui Court Prosecutor’s Office Mihaela Mantu told local news agency Mediafax. Around 400 people protested on December 7 against Chevron’s activity in Pungesti. The protestors managed to destroy the fence Chevron had built around the 20,000 sqm land plot at the village outskirts. The group of protestors was a mix of locals and ecology activists from Iasi, Bucharest, Brasov and Sibiu. The protests were triggered by people’s concerns that exploration would be harmful to the environment. More about the protests, here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: TVR 1)