Hundreds of persons gathered today at a meeting organised by the Journalists Union of Moldova (UJM) in protest against the halt in the retransmission of the Romanian channel TVR1 in Moldovan air. The protesters chanted “Down with the Communists!” and “We Want TVR Back!” “Besides being under Russia’s economical and political thumb, Bessarabia still lives in its information space. That is why we are constantly attacked by the media placed in the service of this oligarchic regime…”, Veaceslav Tsybuleac, director of Vocea Basarabiei Radio, explained his reasons for protesting today. Tsybuleac foresees tougher times in 2008 for the pro-Romanian mass media and institutions, especially for the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia, the papers Timpul and Jurnal de Chisinau, and Vocea Basarabiei Radio. “They have closed down Antena C Radio, transformed Euro TV into Eu TV, pulled the plug on TVR, and they will not stop here, because Voronin, Tkaciuk, Stepaniuc and others do not want us, the Romanians of Bessarabia, to have the freedom to think and freely form our political opinions”, said Tsybuleac. Val Butnaru, Jurnal de Chisinau’s director, stated that TVR1 is not just a simple television channel and a reliable source of information, but also represents a guarantee that we are still living in a world that can be called normal. “The authorities are standing so stubbornly against this channel not because they fear TVR, but because they fear us, those who used to watch TVR every day”, Val Butnaru said. UJM president Valeriu Saharneanu says the relations between the government and the society have chilled with TVR1public channel going off the Moldovan air. “It is an illegality that culminated the series of unlawful actions perpetrated by the Communist government in all these years. The independent press has been a constant subject of attacks, the broadcasting is handicapped and forced to exist in very difficult conditions. We have to join our forces and send a signal to the European Community that there are people in Moldova who have dignity and who know how to defend their rights”, Valeriu Saharneanu stated. Constantin Tanase, the director of Timpul daily, urged the protesters to formulate a memorandum showing the real state of affairs in Moldova and send it to European officials. “We live in an unjust country. If they started to arrest Christmas trees at night, said Tanase, I can’t imagine what’s next”. As the organisers said, the protest meeting was supported by the Romanians’ Democratic Forum of Moldova, the Historians’ Association of Moldova, the European Action Movement, the Moldova Noastra Alliance Party, the Liberal Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, the National-Liberal Party, the Social-Liberal Party, the Helsinki Committee, etc.