Media nongovernmental organizations called upon the Ministry of the Interior and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to investigate and elucidate the case concerning the threatening of the moderator of Jurnal TV’s program “Ora de Ras” (“Shaving Hour”) Anatol Durbala. The case was made public by his colleague Constantin Cheianu on a social networking site, IPN reports.

The media NGOs issued a statement, asking the competent bodies to investigate the case and determine if threats against Anatol Durbala were indeed made and, if so, to punish the culprit in accordance with the law. They demanded that the results of the investigation should be made public.

The statement was signed by the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, the Electronic Press Association, the Committee for the Freedom of the Media, the Young Journalist’s Center of Moldova, the Journalistic Investigations Center, the Association of Independent Telejournalists, and the Center “Acces-info”.

Recently, Constantin Cheianu posted a message on a social networking site, informing that Anatol Durbala, the co-moderator of the program “Ora de Ras”, was phoned at night by businessman Renato Usatyi, who recently became the leader of a political party. The businessman would have insulted and threatened Anatol Durbala, expressing his dissatisfaction with the way he was presented in the April 20 program.

The signatories said the political satire programs, even if they are not a primary journalistic genre, are an indispensable component in educating a healthy civic spirit in society. Consequently, the interference in the activity of the authors of such programs is inadmissible. If a person considers their dignity was damaged in such a program, they should inform the Press Council and should refrain from such direct communication with the authors of the program, which can be interpreted as interference in their professional activity or event threat.