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Рy17 August 2016
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On 1 August the package of laws with reference to the reformation of the National Committee of Integration (NCI) entered into force which is to be reorganized in the National Authority of Integration (NAI). Although the stated purpose of these transformations is to streamline the activity of the new structure, the law which will control the NAI excluded an important stipulation from the old law which obliged the NCI to take action at the signals from media. The Minister of Justice, Vladimir Cebotari, justifies this omission, but the media NGOs say that " the authorities want to reduce the efficiency of press uncovering on corruption, embezzlement and conflicts of interest".
Thus, the old law on the regulation of the activity of NCI stipulated in chapter VI "Control of income and property, conflict of interest and incompatibility": "Control of office, exclusively due to the publications from media - (highlighting is ours), is done on the basis of a minutes on performing the control of office, approved by the Committee". The specification "exclusively due to the publications from media" was omitted in the new law, and together with it the compulsoriness as a new structure (NAI) to take action at the signals from media.
What could the repercussions of this omission from the new law be on the investigative journalists?
Cornelia Cozonac, the chairperson of the Centre of Journalistic Investigations (CJI) says that the exclusion of press from the sources of information of NAI is a "misstep". On the basis of the old law, the National Committee of Integrity has done most of controls based on the materials from press and, probably, this fact disturbed the officials, most of all the deputies, says Cornelia Cozonac who admits that namely because of this they try to restrict the press as a source of information for the new structure of integrity, NAI.
"I don't think that they will succeed and I believe that this is a misstep. This is because the press will continue to come with subjects of integrity, the citizens will be interested to talk about the problems of integrity of the officials they know and then NAI and other state structures will have no choice and will react because the press cannot be excluded from the list of sources of information for NAI and the bodies of law", thinks the chairperson of CJI.
At her turn, the director of the investigative publication "Ziarul de Garda", Alina Radu, suggests that a simple search on google of the expression " NCI took action" would make us discover with amazement that there are about 72.000 press articles which contain this expression.
Alina Radu: "The majority of press institutions from the Republic of Moldova told that after the publication of the journalistic investigations regarding one or another official, "NCI took action", disposing its own research and, subsequently, its own decision. In fact, the press made the work easy for those from NCI, NCA, prosecutors, MHA, Parliament, political parties which had argued information, published by professional reporters, to clean the institutions from corrupt people, money launderers and profiteers of public money, admitted thousands and thousands of readers of the few independent press editions which are left. The statements of the Ministry of Justice and changing the law on the activity of NAI, which confuses the decision to react at the journalistic investigations or not, is an alarming trend of degradation of democracy. It is a message of the present governance which suggests that they are not free to make investigations and they do not wish anybody else to tell the truth about the corruption and the abuse of the current power. It is a message which undermines the press credibility and strikes all journalists who worked for decades to build some independent press institutions and investigative journalism with much effort, but which is appreciated more abroad than at home".
Last week, in an interview for press, the minister of justice, Vladimir Cebotari, tried to justify this omission from the law by saying that "recently media was devided according to political preferences and interests and that " the press isn't credible together with the political class and cannot become a true source of information". His statements drew sharp criticism from the journalists and the civil society, being qualified of " maximum gravity" in a statement of the media NGOs which signatories consider that in this way "the authorities want to reduce the efficiency of the revelations from press on corruption, embezzlement and conflicts of interest".
Thus, the old law on the regulation of the activity of NCI stipulated in chapter VI "Control of income and property, conflict of interest and incompatibility": "Control of office, exclusively due to the publications from media - (highlighting is ours), is done on the basis of a minutes on performing the control of office, approved by the Committee". The specification "exclusively due to the publications from media" was omitted in the new law, and together with it the compulsoriness as a new structure (NAI) to take action at the signals from media.
What could the repercussions of this omission from the new law be on the investigative journalists?
Cornelia Cozonac, the chairperson of the Centre of Journalistic Investigations (CJI) says that the exclusion of press from the sources of information of NAI is a "misstep". On the basis of the old law, the National Committee of Integrity has done most of controls based on the materials from press and, probably, this fact disturbed the officials, most of all the deputies, says Cornelia Cozonac who admits that namely because of this they try to restrict the press as a source of information for the new structure of integrity, NAI.
"I don't think that they will succeed and I believe that this is a misstep. This is because the press will continue to come with subjects of integrity, the citizens will be interested to talk about the problems of integrity of the officials they know and then NAI and other state structures will have no choice and will react because the press cannot be excluded from the list of sources of information for NAI and the bodies of law", thinks the chairperson of CJI.
At her turn, the director of the investigative publication "Ziarul de Garda", Alina Radu, suggests that a simple search on google of the expression " NCI took action" would make us discover with amazement that there are about 72.000 press articles which contain this expression.
Alina Radu: "The majority of press institutions from the Republic of Moldova told that after the publication of the journalistic investigations regarding one or another official, "NCI took action", disposing its own research and, subsequently, its own decision. In fact, the press made the work easy for those from NCI, NCA, prosecutors, MHA, Parliament, political parties which had argued information, published by professional reporters, to clean the institutions from corrupt people, money launderers and profiteers of public money, admitted thousands and thousands of readers of the few independent press editions which are left. The statements of the Ministry of Justice and changing the law on the activity of NAI, which confuses the decision to react at the journalistic investigations or not, is an alarming trend of degradation of democracy. It is a message of the present governance which suggests that they are not free to make investigations and they do not wish anybody else to tell the truth about the corruption and the abuse of the current power. It is a message which undermines the press credibility and strikes all journalists who worked for decades to build some independent press institutions and investigative journalism with much effort, but which is appreciated more abroad than at home".
Last week, in an interview for press, the minister of justice, Vladimir Cebotari, tried to justify this omission from the law by saying that "recently media was devided according to political preferences and interests and that " the press isn't credible together with the political class and cannot become a true source of information". His statements drew sharp criticism from the journalists and the civil society, being qualified of " maximum gravity" in a statement of the media NGOs which signatories consider that in this way "the authorities want to reduce the efficiency of the revelations from press on corruption, embezzlement and conflicts of interest".
Photo source: www.report.md
