The legal argumentation for the May 24 decision by the Investment Council to suspend the licenses of several TV stations is thin and must be annulled by the courts, thinks lawyer Natalia Bairam.

During a press conference on Monday, the lawyer noted that the Council’s decision is based on the argument that the TV stations failed to disclose their bank account information. It is claimed that the channels have five or six active bank accounts, but only one bank account information was presented, which is untrue, says the lawyer. Natalia Bairam insists that she can present documents proving that the channels did present all the requested information.

Also, added the lawyer, the Council claimed that some transactions made its members believe that the stations had some affiliation with the Shor-Plahotniuc group. Natalia Bairam says that, as a lawyer, she can see that it is more of a political statement.

“Just like so, the TV channels were stripped of their licenses, and hundreds of journalists were deprived of the right to work, and the citizens of the Republic of Moldova were deprived of the right to free opinion and pluralism of information”, said Natalia Bairam.

Ludmila Belchenkova, journalist and president of the Stop Media Ban organization, found that this recent suspension of licenses shows once more that the media’s right to free expression is being violated .