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A video broadcast by Jurnal TV on Tuesday, 22 January shows how the officials from the Orhei Mayoralty prohibit the shooting team to enter the meeting room of the Municipal Council because they did not receive any ‘instructions’ in this regard. The representative of the ‘Sor’ Party’s Press Service Tatiana Cociu did not give an explicit answer to the journalists’ question about the causes of such restriction.
We qualify this case as a serious abuse by Orhei authorities. Restriction of journalists’ access to public events violates both the media law and the rules regulating the activity of the local public administration, since the Municipal Council meetings are public and accessible to every citizen.
We remind that the public has the freedom to be informed (Article 6(1) of the Law on Freedom of Expression) and that journalists have the right to participate in public events, film, take photos, obtain and distribute information. According to Article 1801 of the Criminal Code, the deliberate obstruction of media activity can be subject to criminal liability.
We ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate this case and apply the law to those who violated the legitimate rights of the journalist.
We draw the attention of the law enforcement authorities to the fact that their failure to promptly respond to such abuses may lead to multiplication of cases of law violation, especially during the approaching election campaign.
Independent Journalism Center
Association of Independent Press
Association of Electronic Press
Center for Investigative Journalism
Association of Independent TV Journalists
‘Access-Info’ Center
