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According to Jurnal TV, the station’s management sent a written address to the Parliamentary Committee on Mass Media, informing it that lawyer Victor Berlinski had sent a letter to the TV station as a form of intimidation in the context of media coverage of some “dubious actions” that he had allegedly participated in.
On 16 September, the lawyer sent a notification to Jurnal TV after its employees publicized some statements of Member of Parliament Ion Butmalai, according to which Berlinski had participated in the legalization of the raider attack on Banca de Economii. Ion Butmalai said that besides the lawyer, other persons that participated in the legalization were the President of the Supreme Court of Justice Mihai Poalelungi, the President of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tanase, and Dorin Damir, the confidant of Vladimir Plahotniuc, a Member of Parliament representing the Democratic Party. Berlinski threatened that he would sue the television for quoting Butmalai.
In reply, the representatives of Jurnal TV sent a letter to the Parliamentary Committee on Mass Media claiming that “influential persons from the entourage of the controversial Vladimir Plahotniuc aim to intimidate journalists and cease de activity of Jurnal TV, and the actions of Mr. Berlinski are following the same goal.”
The vice-president of the Committee on Mass Media Alexandr Petkov, representing the Party of Communists, said that it is very serious when a media outlet quotes a Member of Parliament and is sued for that. He also said that he knew the situation and that in his opinion, Berlinski acted prompted by Vladimir Plahotniuc, and not at his own initiative. Another vice- president of the Committee, Corina Fusu, representing the Liberal Party, recommended Victor Berlinski to read the law on the freedom of expression. She said that he should have asked for the right to reply if the information publicized by Jurnal TV disturbed him, but that he had no right to ask for disproof.
The Members of Parliament that make up the Parliamentary Committee on Mass Media examined the request of Jurnal TV and scheduled discussions concerning this issue for the following week. They will also send the letter to the Broadcasting Coordinating Council.
At the end of August, Jurnal TV was in the center of another controversy related to intimidation. The management of Jurnal TV at that time asked authorities to investigate the intimidation of two of its employees by the mayor of Cimiseni village in the district of Criuleni. According to the notification, reporter Aura Percic and cameraman Iurie Osipenco were attacked by Mayor Ghenadie Rabei and by some of his supporters while filming a conflict between the priest and the mayor.
Several media NGOs then asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the alleged cases of intentional hindering of professional activity and intimidation of Jurnal TV team by Ghenadie Rabei. In addition, they asked the State Chancellery to investigate the legality of Cimiseni mayor behavior in the situations complained about by the station’s management.
