Gabriel Păun is a forest activist and the founder of the Romanian environmental NGO Agent Green. In May 2015, he was was monitoring an area in Râul Alb upon invitation of locals concerned about activities within natural protected areas, when he and two guides were chased and beaten by a large group of men. Păun's legal representatives alleged that the attack took place in relation to logging connected to the construction of hydro-electric power plants and that at least one of the leading assailants was both a local councillor and an employee of the company behind the plants’ construction. Păun is renowned for his work denouncing corruption and illegal loggers, and had previously been pepper sprayed and beaten allegedly by security guards working for the company HS Timber, formerly known as Holzindustrie Schweighofer, after he followed a truck with illegal timber to the entrance of the sawmill belonging to the Group. Both attacks were video-recorded and uploaded online. A report by the Environmental Investigative Agency (EIA) alleged that the Schweighofer's operations and supply chains in Romania are plagued by illegally sourced wood, while the company denies any involvement in the illegal timber trade.