At the congress of deputies of all levels held on February 15 in Comrat, journalists from nokta.md and laf.md were subjected to public pressure, reports IPN.
They were attempted to be expelled from the hall and labeled as “traitors.” Non-governmental organizations in Moldova condemned these actions and demanded public apologies for the journalists.
According to IPN’s correspondent in Comrat, the first to initiate the attack on journalists was the First Deputy of the Bashkan, Ilia Uzun. He allegedly addressed the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Dmitri Konstantinov, requesting that the nokta.md journalist be removed from the hall.
“This is the dirtiest press that exists – nokta, they must be thrown out of here. Because this dirty nokta has no place next to honest press,” Uzun declared.
Former APG deputy Boris Novak also joined the attacks. He urged the congress participants to express their contempt for the journalists from nokta.md and laf.md with a prolonged “boo.” Some supporters of Evghenia Guțul and Ilan Șor backed his call, while Dmitri Konstantinov and Gagauzia’s Bashkan, Evghenia Guțul, applauded.
In front of the House of Culture, where Guțul’s supporters had gathered, journalist Elena Celac was intimidated by the Bashkan's media advisor, Mihail Vlah. He told her: “Elena, soon you will be gone!”, but refused to repeat his words when the camera was turned on.
Addressing the crowd outside, People's Assembly Speaker Dmitri Konstantinov asked: “Where do nokta.md and laf.md get their funding from?”, stating that “America has already answered.” He thus alluded to a piece of disinformation claiming that USAID, from which journalists had received grants, is supposedly a “criminal organization.”
In a joint statement, media NGOs expressed their solidarity with journalists in Gagauzia, “who continue to face pressure and intimidation from both former and current local authorities.” The NGOs called on Mihail Vlah and Boris Novak to publicly apologize to the journalists and to adopt a civilized attitude toward the press.
